SHOTS – At a health-screening event in Sarasota, Florida, people milled around a parking lot waiting their turn for blood pressure or diabetes checks. The event was held in Sarasota’s Newtown neighborhood, a historically Black community.
Local resident Tracy Green, 54, joined the line outside a pink and white bus offering free mammograms.
“It’s a blessing, because some people, like me, are not fortunate and so this is what I needed,” she said.
Green said she wanted the exam because cancer runs in her family. And there’s another health concern: her breasts are large and cause her severe back pain. A doctor once recommended she get reduction surgery, she said, but she’s uninsured and can’t afford it.
In a recent Gallup poll, 38% of Americans surveyed said they had put off medical treatment last year due to cost, up from 26% in 2021. The new figure is the highest since Gallup started tracking the issue in 2001.
A survey by The Kaiser Family Foundation last summer showed similar results. It found people were most likely to delay dental care, followed by vision services and doctor’s office visits. Many didn’t take medications as prescribed.
The neighborhood screening event in Newtown — organized by the non-profit Multicultural Health Institute in partnership with a local hospital and other health groups — is part of an effort to fill in the coverage gap for low-income people.
Tracy Green explained that her teeth are in bad shape too, but dental care will also have to wait. She doesn’t have health insurance or a stable job. When she can, she finds occasional work as a day laborer through a local temp office.
“I only make like $60 or $70-something a day. You know that ain’t making no money,” said Green. “And some days you go in and they don’t have work … ”
Biden Has No Plan to Provide Americans Relief from His Inflation Crisis
Prices having risen 14.4 percent since President Biden took his oath of office
HOUSE.GOV, WASHINGTON, DC – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement after the Consumer Price Index showed inflation remaining at a 41-year high of 6.4 percent, and prices having risen 14.4 percent since President Biden took his oath of office:
“Working Americans need relief from President Biden’s ongoing inflation crisis. Last week, the Ways and Means Committee heard directly from workers, parents, and small business owners in West Virginia about their struggle to keep up with the cost of living after two years of Democrats’ reckless spending agenda.
“President Biden is in denial and has no plan to stop the inflation he started. In his State of the Union address to the nation, the President promised more of the same reckless spending, welfare for the wealthy, and Green New Deal handouts that have made everything from gas to groceries unaffordable for working Americans.
“House Republicans’ first step to fighting inflation is to put a stop to the wasteful Washington spending that has robbed workers of two months’ pay and jeopardized America’s long-term fiscal health. With the ongoing negotiations over the debt ceiling, President Biden and congressional Democrats have an opportunity to come to the table and work with Republicans to find common-sense solutions to root out wasteful spending that is fueling inflation.
“At the Ways & Means Committee, we will look to advance policies which will help workers, families, small business owners, and farmers trying to find relief from the economic hardships created by one party rule in Washington.
“An economy that is strong starts with actually listening to the working-class Americans who are struggling within it every day, and sourcing their ideas and solutions for how to once again drive job growth, wage growth and financial security.” SOURCE.
