Support Community Health

Submitted By: kathleenmoss@protonmail.com – Click to email about this post

I’m writing this post from my computer as I’m attending a Komen breast cancer advocacy-for-equity summit on zoom this morning. As most of us know, HR1, aka MAGA’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed in July of last year, is set to reduce funding to Medicaid by a full TRILLION dollars in the next ten years. What does this mean for the breast cancer community and the needs of patients in our community? It means preventable death will become more common. I lost my mom to breast cancer two years ago this month, and I myself am a recent, survivor, so I’m looking for ways to help as 8 million already-vulnerable urban and rural patients lose their coverage in our country.

What can we do?

We in the Nehalem Bay area have a wonderful resource in the Nehalem Bay Health Center (NBHC). Some readers may not know that this is the kind of “community health center” that is created to serve low income residents in a special way. By law, this kind of center is required to serve folks regardless of their ability to pay. (This is becoming less and less common in hospitals, so low income folks rely on these centers.)

We can do three things to keep community health centers open as they are projected to lose at least 10% of their funding with the advent of HR1–probably more.

1. Those of us with solid insurance can patronize these facilities–not just the pharmacy, but the acupuncturist and the doctors. I myself have always used Providence in the past, but I’m going to try to get my healthcare at NBHC from now on, to send my healthcare dollars their way (just as I send my grocery dollars to those stores that don’t support MAGA).

2. We can donate. NBHC is a nonprofit, and with new tax laws in place, many of us in upper tax brackets will be able to claim large donations as deductions above the standard deduction. www.nehalembayhealth.org/contribute is the site, and you can also send your Fred Meyer community rewards to them.

3. We can raise awareness through community-led events and campaigns. Board members at community health centers are typically patients and lay folk. If you know people with money to spare, please inquire about being on the board so that you can be a champion for patients in our area. If you’re not a fan of the center, get involved to fix the issues you see–it is OUR center! We must own it fully as a community, especially now.

Finally, I’m interested in joining with the NBHC in the near future to offer rides and gas cards for local patients with income limits who need treatment or radiation. If you are interested in helping with this, or in advocating for vulnerable rural patients (there are many practices at the hospitals too, that need improved for us!) please let me know. The end goal is: we don’t want any local residents declining care or treatment due to lack of coverage or transportation.