Nonprofit Black Voters Matter recently announced that it will be bringing back its “Sick and Tired” campaign to advocate for expanded healthcare.
Created alongside the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the initiative will focus on highlighting 10 states that have refused to work on making Medicaid more accessible to everyone. These 10 states include Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Through discussions and fairs, both groups will call upon communities, activists and leaders to shed light on the inability of everyone to access “equitable and affordable healthcare.”
Black Voters Matter and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s campaign will eventually visit four of the 10 states- all of whom are mostly located in the South. The organizations have already visited Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.
They will be continuing their campaign with more documentary screenings, health and wellness checks and discussions in Georgia and Florida.
“We are still in a state of emergency that disproportionately impacts Black, Southern, and rural communities,” said the co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund LaTosha Brown per a statement. “Our communities deserve life-saving maternal care. Our communities deserve quality mental health care. Our communities deserve to thrive without barriers to healthcare that deepen systemic racism and inequality.”
“We are sick and tired of fighting this battle but will not stop advocating for the healthy, fulfilling, and joyous lives we know we are owed,” she added.
Previous reports have emphasized the lack of health inequality for Black Americans when it comes to health coverage in the U.S. According to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau, Black Americans are 70% more likely not to have any health insurance when compared to white Americans.
As of 2022, public coverage was also marked as being on the decline as the number of public coverage rates decreased by 1.4% for Black adults from 2021 to 2022.
According to a new report by KFF, Black people have a higher uninsured rate in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid eligibility. With the end of Medicaid’s continuous enrollment program in 2023, researchers believe that this rate could increase, as approximately 20.3 million people have been unenrolled from the program already. An estimated 29.4 million people are still waiting for enrollment.
“ACS CAN is thrilled to deepen our partnership with Black Voters Matter to call attention to the importance of Medicaid expansion and the critical role it plays in addressing long-standing, life-threatening health disparities,” said the president of ACS CAN, Lisa Lacasse, per a statement. “Research continues to show one of the most significant factors in surviving a cancer diagnosis is access to comprehensive, affordable health coverage, and it’s long past time the 10 states that have yet to increase access to coverage through Medicaid see this reality and recognize their delay is costing people their lives.”
