We Care – Health Care Policy Education and Advocacy

This Experiential Presentation will explore the efforts of a group of citizens in far Southwest Virginia working to educate about and advocate for state and national health care policy that will provide comprehensive coverage for all. We came together as a group after the election of 2016 when the improvements in coverage provided by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – Obamacare – came under attack from the new administration. I am a member of the group and will describe our various efforts which have included a regional forum, letter writing, and participation in creating a paper chain of 16,000 links that was presented to our member of Congress. Each link represented a person in our Congressional District who would lose health care coverage if “Obama” care was repealed. I will also talk about the resources we have been able to draw upon, organizational challenges we have faced, and ways we have connected to national efforts