Progressive Maryland's launch of our Maryland for Guaranteed Healthcare initiative comes as we are calling for Maryland progressives to join in a rally and lobby action Wednesday, June 21.  to protest the Senate's catastrophic attempt to make the hated House health care bill more palatable. Our health care campaign is consistent with our other progressive values and projects: social justice, anti-oppression, economic justice, and inherent human dignity. Let's get to it.

Progressive Maryland Launches Maryland for Guaranteed Healthcare Campaign; plans Wednesday action

/PM BlogSpace Report/ With the inherent values of Progressive Maryland including social justice and anti-oppression, economic justice, and inherent human dignity, it is a logical next step that healthcare as a human right for everyone is not only important to us, but we believe preservation of healthcare for all Marylanders is time-sensitive. Very much so. With the launch of our Maryland for Guaranteed Healthcare initiative we are calling for Maryland progressives to join in a rally and lobby action Wednesday, June 21.

 Here’s why. Right now the Senate is drafting a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and permanently cut Medicaid. In Maryland, this will impact the 248,200 new enrollees from the Medicaid expansion, including 32,000 veterans. Contrary to public claims, this bill looks a lot like the one that passed in the House last month. It would take healthcare from 23 million people nationwide, allow insurance companies to charge the 134 million people with pre-existing conditions more for healthcare and end the Medicaid as we know it for 77,000 Maryland seniors, 478,000 kids in our state, 148,800 people with disabilities--all to give over billions in tax breaks to the rich and corporations. The majority of people in Maryland oppose the American Health Care Act, and for good reason.

 Friday, June 16th, Progressive Maryland launched our Maryland for Guaranteed Healthcare campaign to educate voters about the potential impact of the repeal and potential structural changes to Medicaid, Medicare and CHIP. Attacks on healthcare are related to attacks on other social safety net programs in the budget. Policy-makers and key stakeholders need to know that these proposals not only impact constituents in their districts, but treating healthcare as a partisan issue literally means life or death for real people.

 People’s lives are at stake. Together we must stand, or divided we’ll fall. Let us know what you will do to volunteer with us for guaranteed healthcare for Marylanders on our new page! We will be having actions and events you can participate in. However, we know not everyone can attend due to real-life needs. You can also write a blog just like this one, or a Letter to the Editor! There are tons of ways to get involved. Tell us how you will today!

  Meet Progressive Maryland’s newest team members working hard on the Maryland for Guaranteed Healthcare campaign!

             Beth Landry is Progressive Maryland’s new Healthcare Organizer, is a Registered Nurse, and originally from Salisbury, Maryland. She is the Chair of the Frederick County Progressives, and a proud member of National Nurses United. She is also a graduate student studying Public Policy with a Health Policy specialization at Walden University.

 Although not currently working clinically, Beth has nine years of bedside nursing experience in critical care in the post-anesthesia care and neurology specialties. She is a former shop steward and negotiation facilitator for NNU in Washington, DC. She has worked on campaigns in Maryland and Washington,DC such as nurse-to-patient ratios and paid family leave.

 In Maryland, she was active with the fracking ban, earned leave and TRUST Act. In the fall of 2016, after being an elected District-Level Delegate to the Democratic National Convention for Sen. Bernie Sanders, she started the grassroots issue-based group, the Frederick County Progressives to keep residents engaged in crucial community building and activism.

 Guaranteed healthcare for all is a core issue for Beth. With her oversight, the Frederick County Progressives organized the Rally for Healthcare for All in April of 2017, which brought attention to the issue of single-payer healthcare in Frederick. Speakers at this event included healthcare advocates in Frederick County, as well as nationally-recognized single-payer advocate Dr. Margaret Flowers. For those in the nursing profession, the old adage goes, “Save one life and you’re a hero. Save a hundred lives and you’re a nurse.” Fighting for healthcare policy gives Beth a chance to fight for the healthcare of millions of people in Maryland and nationwide!

 Beth lives in Frederick with her loving partner-in-activism, Drew, and their Husky, Mishka.

Progressive Maryland’s new Healthcare Fellow, Michael Feldman, is a retail sales consultant originally from Jacksonville,  Florida who relocated to Salisbury, Maryland in May of 2016. He is the Chair of the Lower Shore Progressive Caucus, and a member of Retail, Wholesale, & Department Store Union Local 108, UFCW. He is also joining the Maryland Our Revolution steering committee.

 Michael has been a part of the retail, hospitality, and service sectors spanning and has seen first hand the effect of Right to Work laws, wage theft, and high wage union jobs being replaced with low wage service industry jobs with little to no benefits.

 In Maryland, he has worked with campaigns for the Democracy Amendment Resolution advocating for free and fair elections and overturning the disastrous Supreme Court decision on Citizen’s United. He started the group Lower Shore Progressive Caucus to consolidate and amplify progressive political power in a traditionally rural area.

 As someone who knows first hand the effects of a lack of health and dental care,  guaranteed healthcare for all is a very personal, and very important issue to Michael. After 10 years without any healthcare or insurance, he was finally able to secure insurance with his union job at Littman Jewelers.

 Michael lives in Princess Anne with his college friends Heather and Shaun, and their four children Connor, Micah, Judah, and Annabelle.