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One difference between the class-reductionist progressive & the human-rights-centered liberal is the former believe a policy that benefits everyone lifts all boats while the latter recognizes that people drown whether they are 3 inches or 10 feet underwater.
This has led me to think about what policies a truly anti-racist agenda would promote. Yes, of course, there are the obvious ones such as reparations, police accountability, etc., but let's dig deeper. Take healthcare. M4All won't cure racism, what will address it, though?
The FDA could require that research trials include diverse populations so we don't learn 10 years down the road that a drug that helps white men actually harms Black or Asian men. Ditto, include women since drugs also work differently for them. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3075515/
Hospitals and Clinics outcomes by race should be tracked by the NIH or ACA and publicly available in an easy to use database. Let's know whether they have great disparities in treatment and outcomes so they are forced to to better or are avoided.
Universal Health Care. It does not have to be M4All. It should be universal, affordable, portable, and allow people to see a provider of their choice when they need to at a cost they can afford.
Clinics should have regular weekend and evening hours. With a large practice, there's no reason they cannot do so. Not all people can take paid time off to go to the doctor for routine health maintenance.
Treatment protocols should be prepared that redress racial disparities. For example, a Black person who has a broken leg is less likely to get pain meds than a white person presenting with an identical injury. The disparities in treatment are ghastly.
https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/Default.aspx
https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/Default.aspx
States should adopt California's Maternal Mortality program to reduce disparities in outcomes for Black women.
https://www.cmqcc.org/research/ca-pamr-maternal-mortality-review
https://www.cmqcc.org/research/ca-pamr-maternal-mortality-review
Use evidence-based standards for drug and alcohol treatment and end the courts' preference for the inferior Alcoholics Anonymous program which ranks near the bottom of all possible treatments.
Increase the number of mental health and drug treatment inpatient facilities.
Recognize that living in a racist society that puts lesser value on their lives causes PTSD, that PTSD is a normal reaction to the risks of Blackness in a white supremacist society.
Address why Black people are THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY TO DIE of asthma
https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=15
https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=15
Incentivize opening clinics in Black neighborhoods.
Flunk every med student who suggests Black people feel less pain than white people. Revoke the medical licenses of all practicing physicians who say it. It must be disqualifying to be that racist.
Any more ideas for health policies that not only help everybody but also redress disparities in health care access and treatment?
And yes, Congress must pass some sort of fix to Medicaid so that states cannot be so horseshit about it.