On Monday night, CNN held a Tea Party Republican Debate and one of the highlights was this big #WTF moment that came when the crowd cheered when Ron Paul was asked: if a sick person with no insurance coverage goes to the hospital should society just let him die?

Seriously, when did our society become so selfish? Would those people who cheered not want help if they couldn’t afford insurance and they were in that position? I guarantee you if they would be looking for “handouts’ and “help” if they couldn’t afford insurance. Are we not civilized? I think that a civilized society should look after its people who can’t take care of themselves in situations like that, life or death. These people want programs that help themselves like Social Security, but when it comes to helping others, they can go to hell. Why and when did we become so selfish?

Young Invincibles, a DC based group that focuses on Health Care reform from a youth perspective, is confident that the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act will ultimately be upheld

Read their release after the jump,

[Washington, DC] –Judge Roger Vinson of the Northern District of Florida ruled today that part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the individual responsibility provision, is unconstitutional, and that the whole law is thus void. 26 governors and attorneys general had brought this challenge to the ACA, but the federal government is expected to appeal this decision to the circuit court.

“Today’s ruling should not stand,” said Aaron Smith, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Young Invincibles. “Young Americans need the protections and new options for coverage provided by the Affordable Care Act. Ultimately, we believe that the individual responsibility provision and the health care law itself will pass constitutional muster.”

Judge Vinson’s ruling, if upheld, would threaten the coverage of millions of young Americans, including the 1.2 million young adults who can now go on their parent’s plan up to age 26. Importantly, Judge Vinson opined that because he was voiding the individual responsibility provision, that the rest of the law was not severable and thus should fall as well.

“If Judge Vinson’s ruling is allowed to stand then young adults will not be able to stay on their parent’s plan to 26, children will once again be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition, and insurance companies will be able to cancel insurance when an enrollee gets sick – not because those provisions of the law are unconstitutional, but because one activist judge did not like the individual responsibility provision. Judge Vinson’s ruling has taken judicial activism to the extreme, and puts the health and well-being of all Americans at risk.” Smith said.

Young Invincibles filed an amicus brief on November 12, arguing against the governors’ and attorneys general’s claims that the individual responsibility provision is unconstitutional. The brief emphasized both the enormous benefits health reform offers young Americans as well as the importance of including the individual responsibility provision in order to keep health care coverage affordable for young people. Young Invincibles will file an amicus brief in the Court of Appeals.

###

Young Invincibles is a national organization committed to mobilizing and expanding opportunities for all young Americans between 18 and 34 years of age.

An article in today’s NYTimes revealed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been working with the dairy industry to increase cheese sales. You know, the USDA. The dudes who brought us the food pyramid and all those patronizing ads telling us not to drink so much soda.

So this government department is spending money both on convincing people to eat less cheese and also to eat more of it; they recently issued a pamphlet telling readers to “Ask for whole wheat crust and half the cheese” but are also working with Dominos to increase the amount of cheese on the pizzas they serve in order to increase sales.

Surreal, right? But this sort of thing is a common result of the government’s interest in both sustaining the economy and keeping citizens healthy. Government subsidies for corn farming, for instance, have led to massive overproduction of corn that leads to the proliferation of cheap, corn-based crap. And then they put out ads telling people not to drink so much high-fructose corn syrup.

At best, this is not helpful. At worst, it’s sinister. And it leaves one rather depressed about the prospects for America ever growing into a nation with healthy attitudes towards food, rather than constantly shifting, obsessive nutritional fads and increasing obesity rates. Lacking unifying cultural norms that tell us how to be healthy, Americans look to experts for guidance. And the experts reply “Eat less cheese! Eat more cheese! Buy high-fructose corn syrup products, but don’t drink any soda! WHY IS EVERYONE STILL SO FAT?”

That said, writing this has made me hungry. Pizza, anyone?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a policy statement that basically endorses female genital mutilation;  suggesting the law should “enable pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a ritual nick” such as “pricking or incising the clitoral skin to satisfy cultural requirements.”

I could rant about this, but I think my friend Rebecca’s photographic response when she was sent the link via chat sums up my feelings quite nicely:

St. Vincent’s hospital in Greenwich Village was one of the few hospitals in NYC that was willing to support midwives who do home births. But now it’s closing, and that means about half of the midwives in New York will either have to stop practicing, or practice illegally.

This is happening because of a stupid law that says midwives need to have a “Written Practice Agreement” from a doctor in order to perform a delivery at home. Then if there’s a problem with the birth, that’s the hospital they go to. This law is totally unnecessary, because midwives obviously have a backup hospital in mind when they deliver a baby at home. Just like you know what hospital you might need to go to before you go skydiving. But for some reason, the law insists on treating childbirth like it’s an illness, not a natural part of human life that most often doesn’t require any time in a hospital.

Why was St. Vincent’s one of the only hospitals with doctors who are willing to sign such an agreement? There’s a huge stigma in the medical community against supporting midwives. Why’s there stigma? No reason except misogyny and greed. The medical profession is in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies, who are rather keen on making sure pregnant women are pumped as full of drugs as possible during childbirth, even when those drugs are dangerous and unnecessary.

We talk a lot about giving women control of their own bodies when it comes to abortion, but what about when they’re actually having a child?  It’s incredibly important to take action now so home birth in NYC doesn’t essentially become a crime. Take action here and protect women’s choice in childbirth!

Check out this interesting documentary from Frontline about the Obama administration’s effort to win health care. It’s a lil sappy, but it’s really eye opening.

By now we know that President Obama’s health care reform bill means that people already struggling to pay their bills and those not able to afford to buy insurance will have coverage in the long run. We know that kids with pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain insurance within six months, and adults in 2014. But what does it mean for young people of color and how will it affect our communities in the short term and the long run? After all, the issue of racial and ethnic health disparities has oppressed America’s health care system for years. So, will young people of color be affected by this change?

The answer is yes! In fact, we will benefit the most from this legislation.

Historically, minorities living in America have lower rates of insurance coverage and less access to medical care than White Americans, particularly Hispanics and African Americans being most at risk. Under the health care reform bill, after 2014 most minorities who are currently uninsured will either obtain coverage through Medicaid’s expansion or through government subsidies. For people of color, the health care reform bill is a great triumph.

You might be thinking, “So I have to wait four years to benefit from the health care reform bill?” The answer is no!

One of the changes that will take effect right away that is important for young people of color is the extension of dependent coverage for young adults until they are 26-years-old. This is very important for young minorities who are unemployed and unable to obtain health insurance. The 42% of African American youth that are currently unemployed, college students included, will now be able to secure coverage as a dependent on their parents insurance plan this year.

Another immediate change that will take place in 2010 that will benefit entire communities of color is a provision that will provide billions of dollars to not only expand existing community health centers, but also build new facilities in underserved areas. This will not only allow more access to facilities where ethnic minorities can receive medical treatment, but also create jobs for more health care specialists of color who are bilingual, eliminating communication barriers between the patient and medical staff which has been an obstacle for Hispanic and Asian residents.

As a young person of color in America, the best thing you can do right now is your homework! Start researching how the health care reform bill will directly help you and your families, and start taking advantage of some of the benefits now.

“A rich man is one with knowledge, happiness and his health.” – Common

This is too funny.

The barriers to entry for health insurance are so high that many youth simply go without. It’s not that we don’t want it: we’re perfectly aware we’re not invincible. We’re just priced out of the market. I suppose that’s why you never see any “Blue Cross means Bitchin’ Coverage!” ads, targeted at a younger demographic.

A recent study by the AFL-CIO found that a whopping 31 percent of young workers are uninsured. Moreover, young blue-collar workers are uninsured 40 percent of the time. The key barrier to entry for health care? You guessed it — cost.

Check out the rest of this piece about young people and health care by 99Problems.org’s very own Steve Romain in Wiretap!

So the other day, League alum Dennis “Kinjani” Edwards forwarded me this insightful blog. He, like me, would like people to spend more time actually explaining Obama’s health care plan. Seems like the sensational rhetoric isn’t working for him. More from Kinjani below.

We’ve all seen the epic debates on CNN, Fox, and every major news network about President Obama’s proposed healthcare reform plan. We’ve heard arguments both exhorting and condemning the idea and when I flip through the channels on my TV, if I ever hear the words or see headlines that have anything to do with health care, my ears perk. To say the least, I’m no expert and with the little knowledge that I’ve been able to gather from all I’ve seen and heard over the years about healthcare but I can say that I agree with our President that there needs to be some change in our healthcare system and it would be great if quality healthcare was available to everyone and not just the wealthiest Americans. Lately I’ve been having some trouble. See, I want to support our President. And surely, his proposal that will mark the beginning of a new era in United States economy and politics but I have just one major problem.

After watching all the news and the press conferences and town hall meetings about healthcare reform, I still don’t know what it is. I heard a lot about what this new healthcare plan will not be but I really am not grasping what it actually will be.

Here’s some of what I’ve been able to gather from the press:

There are approximately 52 million Americans who have no health coverage. That means that if they get sick and they need an operation they will have to pay for the cost out of pocket or they will not receive treatment. Arguments against Obama’s plan say that if his healthcare agenda does pass that there still will be another 17 million people who fall through the cracks. 17 million people will still remain uninsured. Again, I’m no expert but I’d rather something be done and then perfected rather than do nothing and we’re left stuck with a huge disparity. Quite frankly, 17 million sounds much better 52.

Many people who are satisfied with their healthcare plan are worried that if Obama’s healthcare agenda passes that they will lose the plan that they like and will have all of their healthcare decisions made by the government i.e. their doctor, prescriptions, etc.

From what I gather, Obama says that none of this I true. He claims that if you like your insurance you will be able to keep it and that the government is not trying to monopolize the healthcare industry. Who has the answers?

Like I said, I agree that there has long been a need for change but maybe our President can be a little clearer when it comes to explaining the details.

At a town hall meeting last night, Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) was confronted by a crowd of crazies, comparing health care reform to Nazi policy.

Let’s just sit back and watch his response.

Oh, do you hear that? That’s the sound of someone getting OWNED.
And that smell? That’s the smell of progress.

I’ve gotta say – there’s nobody in the world that I admire more than Barney Frank right now. The media isn’t calling these people out and Barney’s just telling it like it is. It’s the political equivalent of a diss track. More people need to stand up and call all these propagated lies on what they really are: pure, unadulterated bull.

I got this helpful chart from the @CampusProgress twitter feed. Word to all of the flow chart nerds, this makes a lot of sense to me.

Been feeling sick lately? According to the New York Times, it might not be heat or a flu that’s to blame, but rather, your house. A steady increase in crystal meth use coupled with loose clean up laws means that more and more people are moving into homes contaminated with meth, remnants from former meth labs. This leaves unsuspecting home buyers with two choices: pay astronomical costs for a cleaning, or suffer the consequences of exposing their family and pets to high levels of a potent drug.

Since when is moving into a new home a cause for worry instead of celebration? And how the hell is no one responsible for ensuring old meth labs are cleaned out properly?

Find out more about this this teeth-rottin’ facial disfigurin’ menace at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/14/us/14meth.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss.

We’ve all heard about the “childhood obesity epidemic,” but the truth is it’s not about kids who are too lazy to exercise or parents who are too lazy to cook healthy food. It’s about the ways that we’ve built our communities and designed our food system over the last fifty years. Why don’t our schools stay open after hours so that families have a safe place to hang out and play? Why don’t local stores offer anything besides liquor, cigarettes, and junk food? The 40 youth leaders who run werefedup.com get that obesity is a lot more complicated than people making bad choices, and they’re doing something about it.

Let’s tip the scales after the jump!

Imagine this: you’re a teenager in South L.A. It’s a beautiful summer day and you and your friends decide to put the video games down and head outside to play soccer. There’s a park a few blocks away, but in order to get there you’ll have to cross three busy streets with no crosswalks. If you make it safely to the park, you’ll probably have to clean up the broken glass and used condoms before you can get that game of soccer started. Since you’re planning on exercising, you want to grab a healthy snack on the way to the park. Problem is, the only options in your neighborhood are fast food and liquor stores. Maybe you make it to the park, maybe you decide to stay inside. Either way, this story points out a lot of the problems that have led to obesity rates as high as 40% among youth in some low income communities of color.

The crew at werefedup.com knows that these stories need to be told in order for people to understand the real reasons so many of us are overweight and obese. So they’ve created a social networking site where youth can share stories, photos, and videos exposing things like the food industry’s lies and nasty secret ingredients, and the ways that not having safe places to be active hurts our health. There’s a “rehab” group for kids trying to quit drinking soda, and there’s lots of information about ways for youth to stand up and fight for policies that can improve the choices we have in our schools and neighborhoods. Go check out werefedup.com, make a profile, tell your friends, and get started fighting for change in your community. You could save a lot of lives in the process.

For years eating disorders have been considered a “white girl” problem. However, it has become more and more obvious that illnesses such as anorexia and bulimia do not discriminate, affecting males and females of all races.

According to Doctor Noelle Kerr-Price, eating disorder specialist, “One thing to keep in mind that we don’t even really know the full extent of how many people have eating disorders because many cases aren’t reported out of shame or people are misdiagnosed– if they are diagnosed at all. And those are the fortunate ones with access to health care and other recovery resources.” Kerr-Price, along with many other eating disorder specialists, argues that shame from other community members may prevent many minorities to fessing up about their EDs. Not to mention the problem of cost. The high cost of treatment can make it unrealistic for people with low-incomes. Even for those with health insurance, many policies have limits regarding care for mental illnesses. Some treatments can cost up to $10,000 a week, even forcing families to take out second mortgages. EDs may not be only for rich kids but the treatment sure is! If people of low-income backgrounds are ashamed to seek help or simply can’t afford it, they will not be accounted for statistically.

If black women feel pressure to conform to the prevalent body type of the “dominant culture”, they are more likely to develop eating disorders. Those with more education, for instance, are more at risk. Though EDs aren’t just a white girl problem, they do tend to plague a certain “type” of person. “People who are upwardly mobile and trying to assume power within the dominant culture are most likely to be subject to its norms,” states clinical psychologist, Deb Burgard. Though anyone can certainly struggle with forms of anorexia and bulimia, the more one assimilates to the “dominant culture”—the more that one tries to fit into size zero outfits that white designers created, and into (unfortunately) white-dominated offices—the more one equates thinness with beauty.

Guess how many cows are killed every hour in the US, just so you can have your burger? A whopping 660 000 of them.

Paul McCartney, best known from his part in the Beatles, wants to change this. He believes we can fight global warming simply by not eating meat on Mondays.

McCartney supports the Meat Free Mondays campaign in order to encourage people to give up eating meat or at least to reduce their meat consumption. He states, “Having one designated meat free day a week is actually a meaningful change that everyone can make, that goes to the heart of several important political, environmental and ethical issues all at once.”

Sacrificing meat just once a week could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, according to Greenpeace. But can sacrificing a burger or chicken sandwich just ONCE a week really affect change?

The answer is yes! 3 times as many fossil fuels are needed for a diet that includes meat than are needed for a vegetarian one. Depending on where and how it is produced the FAO estimates that the livestock industry is responsible for between 13.5 and 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions…Some of these are from the methane emitted from livestock. Half of all US water-usage is devoted to livestock, with each cow needing enough water to float a destroyer!

If every human on Earth ate meat, our oil supplies would only last another 13 years, whereas if humans no longer ate any meant it would last 260 years. Still need more convincing? 20 million people will die of malnutrition this year. Yet if Americans reduced their meat intake by just 10%, the land freed up could be used to feed an extra 100 million people! You do the math–that’s 5 times as many people as die each year!

Paul McCartney is not alone in his quest to decrease meat consumption. Celebrities including Sheryl Crow and Alec Baldwin support the Meat Free Monday campaign as well. Even famous chefs such as Giorgio Locatelli and Yotam Ottolenghi have contributed meat-free recipes for the cause.

As stated by the campaign,“To build a better world in the future we all need to make changes in our lifestyles now. Not all the changes we have to make are easy; and not all the easy changes we can make are meaningful. But making just one day a week a meat-free day, really is the little thing that can make a big difference.”

Being a teen is hard enough. Being a teenage mother is infinitely harder—and according to a study by John Santelli of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, there are more and more teens who are becoming moms. Nearly 4 in 10 American teens will be preggers by age 20, and a whopping 445 000 of them will give birth. At those rates, America is the teenage pregnancy capital of the Western World.

Having a baby is a wonderful, beautiful act—but there is a time and a place for it. When a teenager gives birth, the odds of her or her baby having a fulfilling life are significantly lower than if she had waited until she was in her twenties. Teen moms are more likely to drop out of school, receive welfare, and have more children within a couple of years. In turn, the children of teen moms will statistically have poorer health and inferior results in school than their peers who had parents who gave birth later on. Children from teen pregnancies are also more likely to end up in prison (if they’re sons) or giving birth while still teenagers (if they’re daughters).

Which is why Santelli’s study is so disturbing. It shows that teenagers are having kids at a higher rate, not necessarily because they desire children at that stage in life but because they are not taking simple precautions to prevent it. The use of contraceptives is going down, leaving health educators wondering where the f*%# they went wrong. Because, instead of using a condom, youth are trying the “withdrawal method,” and even the “let’s not use anything” approach—otherwise known as the “I’m playing Russian Roulette with my girlfriend’s future” approach. Hell, the guys should be worried too, because STIs tend to spread a lot faster when there’s no condom to stop them (and by “tend to” I mean DO).

And while the need to place blame is both understandable and widespread—everything from teenage celebrities such as Jamie Lynn Spears who glorify pregnancies to sexual education programs that promote abstinence only and forbid any mention of prevention—placing blame only detracts from the real issue, which is how to reverse the trend.

Ultimately, the potential for improvement lies within each and every one of us. . . When it comes down to it, the only way these statistics will improve is if you use a condom next time you’re “gettin’ jiggy with it.”

Think the lack of jobs and toned down Independence Day Celebrations are bad enough? Think again. Not only are we getting sparklers instead of fireworks this year, but the recession will probably increase our waistlines in the process.

Here’s how it works. The recession means most of us have less money, which means we are buying cheaper food: processed, packaged, and ready-to-eat, rather than healthier but more expensive options such as fresh veggies and fruits. Furthermore, many people are being forced to go out and work two jobs, or to work longer hours, just to make ends meet. So instead of having one parent at home or being able to work part-time and devote time to cooking, we are grabbing a cheap bagel oozing with transfats, carbs, and grease rather than making a healthy meal at home. Less money and more hours spent at work also mean less time and funds to work all those extra calories off at the gym.

But don’t you dare worry about all this—because if you do, your stress and depression levels will just increase your chances of becoming obese even more. And more obesity—the national rate is between 25% and 30%—leads to lower productivity and higher healthcare costs. In the year 2000, obesity cost us $117 billion in hospital bills and lost work days, and this number has risen since then. In the last year alone, another 5.5 million Americans joined the ranks of the obese.

It all makes sense in a tragic sort of way. The recession increases obesity which decreases our productivity which in turn leads to more stress about money, and more obesity—a seemingly inescapable cycle of depression and donuts, moonlighting and late night pizza slices.

Fear not, the solution is in our hands (or rather, in our fridge). Strapped for cash? Buy food in Chinatown or at a market instead of some expensive grocer. Can’t spare money for the gym? How about we hit the park instead?

Go on. We’ll be doing our wastelines, and the economy, a favor.

Mark June 30, 2009 down in your calendars people. It was a landmark day. The day that the Queen of England ordered an official swan census. The day that it was announced that daily sex improved your sperm count. Oh yeah, and it was the day that Wal-Mart announced that it supported employer-mandated health insurance.

Wait, what? Yup, you heard (or rather, read) right. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, the country’s biggest private employer, and possibly also the most controversial business in America, has announced its support for the overhaul of the health care system. Furthermore, Wal-Mart has announced that it would like this coverage to extend to both full and part time employees, and that policies should be put in place that reduce health care costs.

Reactions to this news have been mixed. Some laud the announcement as a milestone move towards better health care and worker benefits, while others question the motivations behind the decision—seemingly so out of character for a corporation that has been criticized for its’ stance on worker benefits.

Wal-Mart has been condemned in the past for offering just 43% of their employees health insurance. In addition, employees there faced higher costs for health insurance (up to 25% of their total income) and longer wait times to become eligible (only after a year could part-timers apply for insurance) than other workplaces. Nor could spouses of Wal-Mart part-time employees apply for family coverage. And the list just goes on: Wal-Mart invested just a half of a percentage point of their total profits in employee healthcare, Wal-Mart spends as much on health-care as it does on advertising, Wal-Mart pays for just 52% of premium costs while other retailers such as Sears pay 80%.

And while these critics might have some justification—a spokesperson for Wal-Mart let slip that an employer-mandated health insurance policy “would ultimately save companies money,”—it still does not change the fact that the 1.4 million Americans employed by Wal-Mart will be receiving health insurance in the near future.

Let’s hope that other companies follow their example.

Are you one of the 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance? Think you’re paying too much for too little if you do? Either way, you’ll probably welcome the news that a plan for health care reform is one step closer, thanks to an announcement Obama made Sunday that placed reform costs at 1 trillion dollars over ten years rather than the 1.8 trillion dollars that had been announced earlier. It’s a reform he labeled a “necessity rather than a luxury.”

Just about everyone agrees that it’s necessary to offer insurance to all Americans and to control healthcare costs from skyrocketing. Despite this, a bipartisan agreement is still far from a done deal. Much of the disagreement stems from a public/private divide and from concerns over the sheer amount of money needed to overhaul the system. Some feel that 1 trillion dollars is still too much money to be spending on health care—which it is. It’s a lot of money period. But in the grand scheme of things, it feels like something worth investing in. Put it into context: in 2009 alone the US will be spending 1 trillion dollars on defense-related issues, including the military and two wars. What’s another trillion dollars spread out over ten years, especially if it is an investment in the future happiness and well-being of Americans?

Besides, the system can’t get worse than it already is. The US pays more for health care than any other country—approximately $5711 per person each year. And you get significantly less bang for your buck than other countries: lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, and less coverage (15% of Americans don’t even have access to healthcare). It’s kinda like forking over the money for a gourmet meal and ending up with a corn dog.

At this rate, any reform seems better than no reform at all.