In light of the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) dismal projections on the state of healthcare coverage under the Republican legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act, some health advocates in the Black community are focusing on strengthening self caring measures.
V. Lorece Edwards DrPH, MHS, director of community practice and outreach and an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Health Sciences at Morgan State University’s School of Community Health and Policy
“A big part of healthcare is prevention,” V. Lorece Edwards DrPH, MHS, director of community practice and outreach and an associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Health Sciences at Morgan State University’s School of Community Health and Policy, told the AFRO. “In the dismantling of the healthcare system it is obvious that people need preventative health care especially those with pre-existing conditions,” she said.
According to the CBO’s estimate, the GOP legislation would increase the number of uninsured by 14 million in 2018, 21 million in 2020, and 24 million in 2026. The CBO also estimates that by 2026, 14 million Medicaid enrollees will lose coverage, a reduction of 17 percent.
“Let go, walk away from fast food, but many Black men are refusing to do that. Many can’t satisfy their wives or love ones because of diabetes. Just drinking water and chaning
Renette Dallas, a naturopathic doctor
and founder of Life By Dallas
behavior can make a big difference in two weeks,” Renette Dallas, a naturopathic doctor and founder of Life By Dallas, told the AFRO. She said far too many Blacks are “slowly dying,” from diseases that are preventable.
For the private insurance market, CBO suggests that new tax credits for lowincome people would be smaller than under current law, though individuals with higher incomes would see larger credits under the GOP proposal. “This Republican bill is not healthcare legislation – it’s an annihilation,” U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement on March 13. “Fourteen million people will have their healthcare wiped out if Republicans get their way. Republicans can make all the false promises they want, but the cold hard facts are that their bill will decimate coverage for millions of American families, gut Medicaid for the poorest among us, and force consumers to pay much more for far less.”
Baruch Ben Yehudah, a
naturopathic doctor and a veteran health care
advocate and owner of The Everlasting Life
Restaurant in Capital Heights, Md
Regardless of what happens on Capitol Hill, Black leaders in the health and wellness field say that Blacks must do more to help themselves. “It is time that we go from healthcare to self care. Why do you want to depend on a system that is not for your betterment,” Baruch Ben Yehudah, a naturopathic doctor and a veteran health care advocate and owner of The Everlasting Life Restaurant in Capital Heights, Md., told the AFRO.