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Nonviolent Medicaid Army Put People First! PA

PUT PEOPLE FIRST! PA RALLY IN DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH TO SUPPORT PITTSBURGH RESIDENT APPEALING LOSS OF MEDICAID

Posted by:
Nijmie Dzurinko on June 13, 2023
Category: Actions, Medicaid, Medicaid Cut Offs Organizing Drive, Nonviolent Medicaid Army, Public Healthcare Advocate, Southwest PA

For Immediate Release: June 12th, 2023

Contact:

Barbara White | bawhite2012@gmail.com | 412-381-6886

Put People First! PA | putpeoplefirstpa.org

PITTSBURGH SENIOR GARY RUSH COULD LOSE HIS MEDICAID COVERAGE – THOUSANDS OF PITTSBURGH RESIDENTS FACE SIMILAR FATE

Who: Pittsburgh residents, Southwest Pennsylvania Healthcare Rights Committee of Put People First! PA, members of the Nonviolent Medicaid Army
What: Support Rally outside Gateway 2, location of the Department of Human Services Bureau of Hearings and Appeals

Photo/Video Opportunities: Public demonstration, signs, testimony from affected residents

When: Thursday, June 15th, 12:30PM

Where: Gateway 2, Corner of Penn and Stanwix

Pittsburgh residents and members of Put People First! PA will gather outside Gateway 2 on Thursday, where the Department of Human Services Bureau of Hearings and Appeals regional office is located, to call attention to the injustice faced by senior Gary Rush and the thousands of other Pittsburgh residents who are losing their Medicaid and their healthcare. As the bipartisan decision by Congress in December 2022 to end the continuous coverage requirement for Medicaid take effect, we demand that the Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Hearing and Appeals grant Mr. Rush’s appeal and maintain his Medicaid enrollment.

Mr. Rush qualified for Medicaid after becoming disabled, and is receiving treatment for his diabetes, chronic back pain, and kidney disease. Being insured allowed him to do something that many seniors aspire to – he put away a little money for retirement.

But thanks to the draconian rules reimposed by the end of the continuous coverage requirement for Medicaid, which are on track to revoke benefits from over 1 million poor and working-class Pennsylvania residents, Gary Rush has, like many Pennsylvanians, received notice that he no longer qualifies for the healthcare he relies on to survive.

Medicaid, like other public benefits, is a harsh system where you regularly have to prove you deserve assistance by staying under income limits. If you make $1 over the limit, you are thrown off the rolls and you lose your healthcare. For some, these limits also extend to your retirement savings – effectively prohibiting any senior on Medicaid from putting aside money for medical treatment or end of life care.

Without his Medicaid and prescription coverage, Gary would be forced to spend the majority of his monthly Social Security income on his healthcare. Gary’s medications, for example, total anywhere from $700-$800/month without insurance. On top of that, without Medicaid, he would have to start paying out of pocket costs for his primary care visits, specialist visits, lab work, and more.

“I don’t know how I am going to pay for everything if I don’t have Medicaid”, said Gary Rush. “I am on a fixed income which meets my living expenses, but without the Medicaid I might have to stop some of my care or start eating into my savings or retirement accounts to stay healthy. I have doctors and specialists that I see and without Medicaid, I don’t even know how much that would cost.”

It is for this reason that a group of Pittsburgh residents, led by the Southwest Pennsylvania Healthcare Rights Committee of Put People First! PA, will gather near Gateway 2, outside the Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Hearing and Appeals, to advocate for Mr. Rush’s fair treatment, and to insist that his Medicaid coverage be maintained.

Responding to the situation in which Mr. Rush and many other PA residents find themselves, Put People First! PA is demanding that no one lose their healthcare; that PA should instead invest some of the $8 billion dollar budget surplus to expand Medicaid to cover all PA residents, fully restore the Medicaid Adult Dental Benefit that was cut in 2011, and that the legislature should pass a bill to establish an office of the Public Healthcare Advocate [1] for Pennsylvania to provide support for residents like Mr. Rush fighting for their healthcare rights.

[1]
For more information on the Public Healthcare Advocate (2021-2022 House Session HB1828), see the policy report released by Put People First! PA in August 2021. https://www.putpeoplefirstpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Final-PHA-report.pdf

IMPACTED RESIDENTS OPPOSING MEDICAID CUTOFFS HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE, DEMONSTRATION & LOBBY DAY AT PENNSYLVANIA STATE CAPITOL

Posted by:
Put People First! PA Admin on June 6, 2023
Category: Uncategorized

For Immediate Release: June 5th, 2023

Contact:

Barbara White | bawhite2012@gmail.com | 412-381-6886

Put People First! PA | putpeoplefirstpa.org

IMPACTED RESIDENTS OPPOSING MEDICAID CUTOFFS HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE, DEMONSTRATION & LOBBY DAY AT PENNSYLVANIA STATE CAPITOL

“Caroling the Crisis” Demonstration Highlights Cruelty of Cuts to Medicaid That Target Pennsylvania’s Poor

Who: Residents of Pennsylvania, Members of Put People First! PA and the Nonviolent Medicaid Army
What: Sing-out, testimonies and demonstrations by directly affected residents from five regions on the capitol steps, followed by caroling offices of legislators.

Photo/Video opportunities: Large banner opposing Medicaid cuts, songs from the Poor People’s Campaign

When: Wednesday, June 7th, 9AM Press Conference

Where: Capitol Steps, N 3rd St, Harrisburg, PA 17120

Since the bipartisan decision by Congress in December 2022 to end the continuous coverage requirement for Medicaid, resulting in cut-offs in PA beginning on April 1, 2023, Put People First! PA has been organizing all over the state with residents impacted by these cutoffs – who will converge on the Capitol steps on June 7th to make their voices heard.

Directly impacted residents will hold a press conference, demonstration, and grassroots advocacy day, including a selection of movement songs (“Caroling the Crisis”) to highlight the cruelty of threatening nearly 1 million poor and working-class Pennsylvania residents with revocation of their health insurance through redetermination and disenrollment.

As reports of bureaucratic problems with the appeals process continue to pour in, PA residents are coming together to share why Medicaid matters to them:

“As a longtime Medicaid recipient, and as a person whose chronic pain is currently reaching the point of disability, the Medicaid cuts in PA will affect my ability to make appointments, to receive treatment, to maintain my income and provide for my basic needs,” said James Glatz, from Greentown in Pike County.

“Medicaid for me is an essential need to continue living; it not only helps with my medical appointments and copays for prescriptions, it is also helping me do the tasks that are needed to work towards obtaining housing. [Medicaid has] opened the doors literally for me, as an unhoused individual, to work with case management and to have the ability to obtain housing beyond just shelter.” said Shawn Kneisley of Lancaster County.

“I and many other people like me simply can’t afford ACA premiums on the wages I receive. Medicaid gives me hope that I can manage my health as a young adult without going into further debt or going uninsured.” said Anita Knisely-Durham of Montgomery County.

“I am currently homeless and living in a shelter here in Philadelphia, while working and trying to get a place of my own… I worked hard my entire life and paid into these programs. It is not entitlement but necessary for those who desperately need the help.” said Thea Reimel from Philadelphia.

“I need Medicaid to supplement my Medicare”, said Barbara White of Allegheny County. “My Medicare Advantage plan has too many out of pocket costs and inflation has hit hard.”

Responding to the testimony of these residents and many others, Put People First! PA is demanding that no one lose their healthcare; that PA should instead invest some of the $8 billion dollar budget surplus to expand Medicaid to cover all PA residents, fully restore the Medicaid Adult Dental Benefit that was cut in 2011, and that the legislature should pass a bill to establish an office of the Public Healthcare Advocate [1] for Pennsylvania to provide support for residents fighting for their healthcare rights.

Spring/Summer ‘23 KEYSTONE Released!

Posted by:
Put People First! PA Admin on June 2, 2023
Category: Arts & Culture, Base-building, Campaign, Keystone News, Medicaid Cut Offs Organizing Drive, Member Reflections, Nonviolent Medicaid Army
Tag: keystone, MCOOD

Spring/Summer ‘23 KEYSTONE Released!

Hot off the press! Created by the Media & Communications Team, the Keystone is Put People First! PA member created Newsletter Released twice every year!

Click here to read or share this link: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/b4bb7f20d3.html

Medicaid Mondays Round Up

Posted by:
Put People First! PA Admin on May 3, 2023
Category: Medicaid, Medicaid Cut Offs Organizing Drive, Nonviolent Medicaid Army
Tag: medicaid cut offs, Medicaid For All, medicaid mondays, nonviolent medicaid army

May be an image of text that says 'NONVIOLENT MEDICAID ARMY Medicaid matters to me and my family! No hurdles, no cuts. Medicaid for all of us! www.putpeoplefirstpa.org'

Medicaid Mondays: Story Share Social Media Campaign 2023 with the Put People First! PA and the Nonviolent Medicaid Army

Every Monday, Medicaid recipients or those unfairly excluded from Medicaid are posting on social media to briefly share their story about why Medicaid is important to them and or why it’s important to expand Medicaid to all residents.

This is part of Put People First! PA’s Medicaid Cut-offs Organizing Drive. The Social Media Campaign began on April 3 and will continue throughout the 2023 Organizing Drive.

Share your story! For a more in depth guide on how to participate see here: bit.ly/MedicaidMondaysGuide

Monday April 24th will be our next Medicaid Monday! Use one of the graphics below and add your story to the post. Please use the hashtags #Medicaid4All and #NoMedicaidCutsPA

????Make the invisible visible
????Change the narrative by changing the narrator
????You are not alone!
#MedicaidMondays