One year ago, my generation -adults ages 18-34 – saturated the voting polls across the country, casting their votes in record numbers with hope that things could change.
One year later, Congress is making progress on several of the issues that weighed on our minds as we stood in line to vote; one of them being health care, which is close to having a piece of legislation aimed at resolving our broken system.
On November 4th, Campus Progress and a coalition of 20 youth organizations that form the Y.I. Want Change Coalition, hosted a national day of action called Y.I. (Still) Want Change. This day marked the anniversary of last year’s historic election and made a strong, collective demand for comprehensive health care reform in events across the country.
Young people gathered in more than 20 states to participate in 44 events (representing our 44th President), including states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts and Montana – states represented by Senators that have a big stake in the health care debate. These events ranged from film screenings, to photo petition drives, to phonebanks and rallies.
Y.I. Still Want Change also engaged thousands of young health care reform supporters on Facebook, where they signed a photo petition demanding reform from Congress.
You can still participate in the Y.I. Want Change petition now by signing the photo petition on Facebook and changing your status to read:
Health care reform is one of the most pressing issues facing our country, yet there has been little discussion about the health care needs of young adults. Young people make up one third of the uninsured, but our voices are not being heard in the health care debate. November 4th’s national day of action had a mission to change that.
As Erica Williams, our Deputy Director here at Campus Progress, has said, “Young people have fought for months to make our voices heard in this debate. At this critical moment, on campuses and in communities across the country, we are showing our leaders that we are engaged and ready to hold them accountable for delivering real, comprehensive, health care reform.”
In addition to calling attention to young Americans’ health care needs, the Y.I. Want Change coalition supports a set of policy priorities to ensure that health care reform addresses those needs. The coalition formally announced these policy priorities at a press conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a few weeks ago.
Some of these policies include removing the “Young Invincibles” plan – the catastrophic insurance plan written into the Senate Finance Committee’s bill- from legislation, extending coverage under your parents’ insurance plan until age 26, and securing funding to educate young adults on the benefits of their new health care system after reform.
Visit Y.I.WantChange.org now or join us on Facebook to show your support for health care reform!