Health reform teach-in at Mailman School of Public Health

Jessica Silk, left, and Lorlette Haughton, second from left, join students at the Mailman School of Public Health for a health reform teach-in
What will health reform mean for me and my family? Will it be affordable? Will it cover the services I need?

Those questions and many more were answered at a teach-in on health reform at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, on Thursday, October 22. Sponsored by the Student Committee of the Public Health Association of NYC and the Black and Latino Caucus of the Mailman School of Public Health, the event drew nearly 60 students, faculty and members of the community. Raising Women's Voices co-sponsored the teach-in, and helped line up speakers.

Teachers for the event included Bill Jordan, MD, MPH, from the National Physicians Alliance; Jessica Silk, MPH, and Christina Poopatana, MPH, all from the Public Health Association of NYC (PHANYC); and Mark Hannay of Metro NY Health Care for All. Lorlette Haughton of PHANYC's student committee gave a moving personal testimony about the kinds of obstacles young adults face in trying to maintain or find health insurance:

"Hello everyone, my name is Lorlette Haughton and I am uninsured.

The last two years have forced me to take notice of the importance of health reform issues because I got kicked off of my parents' health insurance plan pretty soon after I graduated college over two years ago. Even though I have a job right now, I am still uninsured because my employer cannot not afford to give me full time status.

I try to remind my self that I am lucky to be young, but I still get sick! I remember when the whole H1N1 scare first happened, because I managed to catch the other flu.  I was so scared that I went to the doctor after three days of trying to rough it out at home.  And although I was happy to be told I did not have the H1N1 virus, I still had to pay for the visit and for the age-old advice to get some rest and drink a lot of fluids!

It would make a world of difference to me to have affordable health care.  I would like to be free of the anxiety that I feel every time I go to the doctor because I know that I have to pay more than I can afford for the most basic health care.  I make healthy choices and I eat well but I am not a machine and I, like everyone else in this room, need basic health care that I can afford."

 Mythbusting panel members are, from left, Tim Foley of NYC for Change, Julia Smith of Young Invincibles, Carmina Bernardo from Planned Parenthood of NYC and Karen Wang, MD, from the National Physicians Alliance. Emcee Lamont Carolina is at right.

A myth-busting segment of the program featured Tim Foley of NYC for Change explaining why health reform will not be a government take-over of health insurance, Carmina Bernardo of Planned Parenthood of NYC explaining that the health reform bills in Congress do not change the status quo on public funding of abortion services; Karen Wang, MD, talking about how health reform does not mean you will have to change your doctor; and Julia Smith of the Young Invincibles explaining that young adults actually want to have health insurance, but cannot afford it currently. See RWV's mythbusting fact sheet for more information on these topics.

Want to sponsor a teach-in on a college campus near you? Contact us at info[at]raisingwomensvoices[dot]net for sample materials and program. We'll help you pull it together!

Update on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 12:01PM by RWV Editor

We have also updated our young adult factsheet with details on how the current health care bills support this age group.

Update on Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 11:03AM by Sheila Reynertson

Check out the other myth-busting panel we hosted back in September.