Train 500 Activists to Fight for Lower Drug Prices

Right Care Alliance members have been busy this winter! A few chapters are continuing the insulin campaign, some are organizing to end surprise hospital bills in their cities, and others have been articulating our vision for what we want the American health care system to look like.

Right Care Boston marched to Eli Lilly's Innovation Hub in Cambridge, MA. We partnered with the Boston Area Brigade of Activist Musicians (BABAM!), a local marching band, and Boston chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America and Physicians for a National Health Program. Our very own "Pharma Man," dressed as an executive, interrupted speeches with all the usual talking points on why high drug prices have to stay --" The money really goes to research and development for new drugs and cures," and "High prices are the fault of other players in the system." The crowd booed, pushed Pharma Man out of the way, and marched to Eli Lilly's office. Family members of peole who have died from insulin rationing poured buckets of (fake) blood on an Eli Lilly banner and chanted, "Their blood is on your hands!" to remind the company of their responsibility for these deaths. 

Right Care Gainesville continues to hold vigils for those we have lost to out of control insulin prices. They also recently partnered with the Alachua County Labor Coalition to organize an Open Table conversation on imagining the ideal health system. Patient and physician activists presented their ideas, and then the participants shared what they wanted to see in their ideal health system. Many participants were particularly interested in how we can fund a system that gives coverage and care to everybody in the United States. Managing end-of-life care was another popular topic. 

RCA members are becoming increasingly passionate about surprise medical bills. Hospitals often charge for consultations with physicians who are not in the insurance network of the patient - without giving patients an opportunity to consent or ask questions about this practice. Patients are charged thousands of dollars for these surprise bills, and if they don't pay quickly, the bills are often sent to debt collectors. Patients' wages have been garnished, and in some parts of the country, people are arrested for not paying these bills that they cannot afford. RCA members are beginning to take action. Right Care Bay Area is hosting an online teach-in about these practices. An RCA member who worked as a hospital attorney for many years has begun traveling across the country to teach others about how hospitals choose their prices, and what we can do about it

We often talk about demonstrations public speaking, but another leadership skill important to the RCA is writing. In late December, the Emergency Medicine Council's paper on their Right Care Top 10 was published in the Emergency Medicine Journal. "Bringing Value, Balance, and Humanity to the Emergency Department: The Right Care Top 10 for Emergency Medicine," was written by RCA members Maia Dorsett, Richelle J. Cooper, Breena R Taira, Erin Wilkes and Jerome Hoffman. They outline ten ways in which clinicians can provide right care to emergency room patients. This Right Care Top Ten list has been years in the making. In 2016, each of the Right Care Alliance councils began developing a list of 10 evidence-based recommendations for health care value in their specialty. Through a modified Delphi panel process, the council voted for what they considered the most important recommendations, based on how much the recommendation matters for patients, its potential for positive impact, and how well it illustrates the broader system failures.

Links:

• Youtube clip of the Boston march on Eli Lilly
• Emergency Medicine Council Top10 Paper