During each of the first six months of 2020, PNHP will focus on a specific, concrete “kitchen table” issue that requires fundamental reform (like single payer), not minor tweaks (like a public option). See below for materials related to this month’s issue, rural health care, and scroll to the bottom for a list of future topics.
Rural health care (March 2020)
The corporations that control U.S. health care are neglecting rural communities. Why? Because they are driven by profits, and seek to deliver expensive care to a large populations of privately insured patients. Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate, and residents of these communities are suffering greatly as a result.
We encourage you to share the materials below with your colleagues, family members, friends, and neighbors during the month of March to remind them that our rural health crisis is a kitchen table issue…and that Medicare for All is a necessary part of the solution.
Complete rural health crisis toolkit
- One-page handout: Overview of our rural health crisis
- Comparison chart: Medicare for All vs. public option
- PowerPoint slides: Medicare for All means far better rural health
- Newspaper outreach: Sample letters to the editor
- Radio outreach: Talk radio call-in scripts
- Organizing toolkit: Rural American Health Care
- Social media: Share on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
- Video: Dr. Carol Paris on our rural health crisis
- Facts and data sources: Resources on our rural health crisis (also available in PDF and MS Word)
- Podcast: Dr. Bob Devereaux on our rural health crisis
- Webinar: Dr. Bob Devereaux answers member questions
- News coverage: Dr. Robin Feierabend speaks to The Daily Yonder about rural hospital closures
If you need assistance with events or actions, contact the PNHP organizing team at organizer@pnhp.org. For help with messaging materials, contact PNHP communications specialist Clare Fauke at clare@pnhp.org.
If you would like to provide expertise or help develop materials for future Kitchen Table topics, please contact PNHP Strategy Committee co-coordinator Dr. Ed Weisbart at pnhpmo@gmail.com.
Video: Dr. Carol Paris on rural health care
Video: Dr. Anna Stratis on rural health care
Podcast: Dr. Bob Devereaux on our rural health crisis
Webinar: Dr. Bob Devereaux answers member questions
Additional topics
Stay tuned for these topics throughout the first half of 2020:
- Surprise billing (January)
- Racial health inequities (February)
- Rural health (March)
- COVID-19 and public health emergencies (April)
- High drug prices (May)
- Substance abuse and opiods (June)
- Maternal and reproductive health (July)
