On Thursday November 18, we are holding an open membership meeting followed by an online vigil to honor our Wyoming friends who are suffering because they lack access to affordable healthcare.
Wyoming Rising is continuing an effort that the Healthy Wyoming Coalition started in September. The statewide candlelight vigil attracted more than 300 people in eight communities to remember those who have died due to lack of healthcare. People who attended came from all walks of life, but were unified in support of expanding Medicaid so at least 24,000 low-income Wyoming citizens will finally have health insurance. Speakers included clergy members, mothers and fathers, social workers, city and county officials, and frustrated state legislators who support Medicaid expansion but have seen it fail every session over the past decade. Remembrances included all-too-familiar stories about how lack of access to affordable healthcare delayed treatment, often leading to the advancement of diseases that spread too far to save lives.
A recent poll of Wyoming residents shows a clear majority favor Medicaid Expansion, regardless of political affiliation.
We invite you to join us for a short membership meeting followed by a discussion of Medicaid Expansion. We want to hear brief, first-person accounts or stories of people you know (an unnamed relative, friend, or neighbor) who were unable to afford health care, depriving them of needed medical services. We have also invited health care professionals and members of the clergy to share their experience with hardships caused by the lack of Medicaid Expansion in Wyoming.
With your permission, we will compile your stories and forward them to the Healthy Wyoming Coalition, an organization devoted to passage of Medicaid Expansion in Wyoming. The Healthy Wyoming Coalition gathers such stories from around the state and formats them in a way that we hope will persuade legislators of the importance of Medicaid Expansion. The evidence of positive health outcomes, fiscal feasibility, and economic benefits from states that passed Medicaid Expansion is compelling, yet has failed to convince enough state lawmakers. With these stories, we hope to appeal to their hearts as well as their minds.
Link to open meeting & online vigil
Time: Thursday Nov 18, 2021 07:00–8:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87940872231?pwd=eC9LcHZtODJWc3lMU040UnZUYWdoQT09
Meeting ID: 879 4087 2231
Passcode: 007739
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