August 2020 is Civic Health Month - Healthcare Supporting Voting and Voter Registration in 2020
There is a new movement at the intersection of Medicine and Politics here in 2020.
What role might YOU play?
Like it or not, Healthcare and Politics are inextricably linked, especially here in the USA. Most often this relationship is to the detriment of the healthcare delivery system and the health and health coverage of the general population.
- The healthcare delivery system is heavily influenced by politics and political decisions made by non-physicians
- Patients and their families over represent disenfranchised communities with low voter registration rates
- Voters rank Healthcare as a more important topic than guns, voter registration, taxes or the economy
Fortunately, the medical community is learning how to fight back by tapping a citizen superpower that is the RIGHT of every American.
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THE VOTE
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Now the Healthcare Industry is working to ROCK THE VOTE by declaring August Civic Health Month
Sponsored by a collaboration of over 60 hospitals and healthcare networks and thousands of individual doctors, residents and med students.
Here is the mission of CIVIC HEALTH MONTH:
Vote like your health depends on it
"The partnering organizations of Civic Health Month all envision a more inclusive American democracy. They are all creating a future where patients and providers alike are empowered to fix the health care system by inviting their voices into the democratic process."
This is a fascinating collection of healthcare systems, grass roots organizers and individual healthcare providers.
Here are just a couple of my favorites Civic Health Month coalition member organizations.
Please consider pulling out your plastic and donating to one of these fine efforts. No matter what your political persuasion all Americans deserve the chance to vote.
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This is Blog Post #343
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Vo+ER
Healing Our Broken Health System — One Vote at a Time
VoteER supports registration of patients while they are in the hospital. They provide a free "Healthy Democracy Kit" and voter registration posters containing a QR code that connects the patients and families to online voter registration services.
Order your Healthy Democracy Kit Here
Med Out the Vote
https://www.medoutthevote.org/
#MedOuttheVote
In the fight for healthcare, the most powerful tool we have is our vote.
This initiative of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) requires a three part pledge
- I will vote
- I will help others vote
- I will get out the vote
Patient Voting
https://www.patientvoting.com/
We are a non-partisan organization to increase voter turnout among registered voters who are unexpectedly hospitalized in the days and weeks prior to the presidential election on November 3, 2020.
Patient Voting helps hospitalized patients vote by using an Emergency Absentee Ballot. An Emergency Absentee Ballot is available in most states, but few people have heard of it.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, "Requirements to qualify for an emergency ballot vary, but the most common reason that states permit a voter to use this option is due to a medical emergency such as unforeseen illness, confinement to a medical facility, disabilities or accidents resulting in injury."
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PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT:
- Are you registered to vote?
- Will you vote in the next election?
- Will you register as a member of Civic Health Month coalition or register with one of the member organizations in the collaborative?
- Who do you know / what organizations do you know that would register and support these efforts if they knew about it? (When will you forward them this blog post?)