Freedom to be Healthy

The Catholic Church affirms that food and health care are not privileges reserved for the wealthy, but universal rights.

Our Values

Together, we will ensure that quality health care and nutrition are treated as fundamental human freedoms for all of us, no matter the color of our skin, how much money we have, or where we live.

THE CURRENT REALITY

As health care and food costs continue to skyrocket, too many of us suffer.

  • Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy for all people in the U.S.—Black, Brown, and white.
  • 13% of U.S. adults—and one in five people of color—know a friend or family member who died because they could not pay for needed medical care.
  • Some politicians choose to protect the profits of big private insurance companies, and fail to ensure that everyone, regardless of ability to pay, has access to quality, affordable, culturally-competent health care.
  • For decades, Big Pharma corporate executives have bought political influence in order to keep caps off of drug prices. This has allowed the prices of needed medicines to skyrocket.
  • The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate, for Black, Brown, and white mothers, of any industrialized country.
  • In the richest nation in the world, 44 million of us are at risk of hunger, including one in five children. In 2023, many GOP members of Congress tried to slash funding for nutrition assistance programs, making it harder for our communities to have enough healthy food to eat.

Will you vote for candidates who…

Will protect and expand affordable health care for all and end the injustice of medical debt?

Goal #1: Protect and expand health care for all and end the injustice of medical debt

WINS:

  • The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) massively decreased health care costs and made the promise of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) a reality.
  • More than 21 million people have affordable health care because of the Affordable Care Act.
  • 41 states have expanded Medicaid, supported by the Biden-Harris administration’s American Rescue Plan Act.

VISION: 

  • Together, we will ensure health care for all, with no exceptions!
  • We will maintain affordable health care coverage for millions of people in the U.S., ensure that all states have access to expanded Medicaid, and protect gains like the Affordable Care Act from efforts to erode them.
Support policies to reduce the cost of prescription medicines so patients can afford lifesaving care?

Goal #2: Make prescription medicines affordable

WINS: Overcoming powerful opposition from Big Pharma and its allies, the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) at last authorized the government to crack down on runaway drug prices for seniors. Since then, the Biden-Harris administration has: 

  • Set a cap of just $35 per month on previously costly insulin prescriptions for Medicare patients, resulting in an estimated savings of over $750 million per year for 1.5 million patients.
  • Launched previously-forbidden negotiations with drug companies on drug prices for Medicare recipients. Hard negotiations are beginning, and drug prices for some popular, expensive drugs will decrease starting in 2026.
  • Required drug companies that raise prices above inflation to pay fees into the Medicare Trust Fund that will help to stabilize Medicare funding for the future.
  • Capped prices for seniors on drugs not covered under Medicare to $2,000 per year beginning in 2025. Seniors will also have the option to pay for the drugs on a monthly basis rather than at one time.

VISION: 

  • Together, we will ensure that we can affordably access the lifesaving medicines we need and hold Big Pharma accountable. 
Support ending the Black maternal health crisis by investing in the expansion of critical programs to support the lives of parents and babies?

Goal #3: Improve maternal care and end the Black maternal health crisis

WINS:

  • The 2022 Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act, championed by we the people(!), protects the rights of pregnant workers to safely earn a living while pregnant—and ensures accommodations like the right to use a stool at work and take adequate bathroom breaks.
  • Parents across the country have better access to safe, affordable postpartum care, because the Inflation Reduction Act extended postpartum coverage under Medicaid. Most states have opted into this extended coverage.

VISION: 

  • Together, we will invest in adequate health care and financial supports to improve the health of birthing parents and newborn babies, by passing the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, which ensures that all new parents—Black, Brown, and white—have access to adequate health care.
Support ending hunger in our nation with needed food assistance programs, such as SNAP, WIC, and school lunch programs?

Goal #4: Make nutritious food accessible to everyone

WINS: 

  • In 2023, we resisted GOP efforts to gut our critical food security programs with work-reporting requirements.
  • Together, we secured much-needed additional funding to ensure that all women, infants, and children have access to the food they need through the WIC program.

VISION: 

  • Together, we will end hunger in America by ensuring robust nutrition funding, including in the Farm Bill, for SNAP, WIC, school meals, senior meals, and the Emergency Food Assistance program.

The Catholic Church affirms that food and health care are not privileges reserved for the wealthy, but universal rights.

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