Be a Health Care Advocate!

While we may not agree on exactly how Congress should reform our health care system, I think we can all agree that now is the time for nonprofits to put their advocacy skills to work! If you’re looking for a little inspiration, check out what your colleagues in the nonprofit sector are doing to advocate for health care reform:

Be Smart. An important part of being an advocate is ensuring that decision-makers have access to information needed to make an informed decision. For example, the Urban Institute released a report describing how a public plan might be structured, how many people might be expected to enroll, and how much money the public plan might save. Another organization, Physicians for a National Health Program, produced a report analyzing the healthcare reform program in Massachusetts. Other organizations have focused their analysis on how health care reform might impact certain populations. For example, the National Coalition for LGBT Health developed a set of principles on how a health care reform bill could best meet the needs of the LGBT community. Even private foundations can be advocates on health care reform. The Kaiser Family Foundation produced this nonpartisan analysis report comparing all of the health care reform proposals.

Be Funny. Who says advocates can’t have a sense of humor? Our friends at the Huffington Post recently posted this story on some funny signs they found amid the protesters picketing the Heath Care Town Halls hosted earlier this month.

Be Tech Savvy. While much of the media attention has focused on how groups opposed to health care reform are using social networking sites to spread misinformation about health care reform, the truth is organizations supporting health care reform have been just as active. For example, NARAL and Planned Parenthood have both been developing online and television ads and using blogs to spread the truth about health care reform. Even President Obama got in on the tech-train (he must have been inspired by Netroots Nation?) and developed a site where individuals can Tweet their Senators.

Be Loud (when you need to). Sometimes you just need a good old-fashioned protest to generate media coverage and help rally your supporters. For example, a number of labor organizations and organizations that support a public option organized a boycott of Whole Foods in response to an editorial by the company’s CEO criticizing single-payer health care. Other organizations are preparing for rallies at the end of the Congressional recess.

Be Quiet (when your silence can speak louder than words). PICO and the Interfaith Coalition for Heath Care Reform are urging health care reform prayer services. Additionally, in March some organizations urged a sit in at the headquarters of the ten largest health insurance companies to show just how many people would be impacted by health care reform.

Be Helpful. Let’s face it, we're all busy…so just tell people what you want them to do! Nonprofits are allowed to encourage others to contact their legislators (it’s called grassroots lobbying and you can find out more about the laws permitting – subject to limits – grassroots lobbying by nonprofits on our website). For example, the National Immigration Law Center created a health care toolkit with examples of activities organizations can do during the August recess to help ensure immigrant populations are not excluded from the health care reform bill.

Be a Part of the Movement. We in the nonprofit sector provide amazing resources for each other – we can all learn from the advocacy efforts of our colleagues in the sector. That’s why I was so glad to see that some organizations, including Ohio Consumers for Health Coverage, are offering an advocacy training around health care reform.

Be Proud of Your Accomplishments. When you do something important (you know, like help millions of Americans get access to quality affordable health care), it’s ok to brag about it. A national coalition working on health care reform called Health Care Reform for America Now posted this article to their blog about what they accomplished during the organization’s lobby day in Washington, DC.

I don’t care how you do it, just be an advocate for you constituents! I can’t promise that we’re going to get a healthcare bill we will all love, but I can promise we won’t get a bill at all unless we speak up and advocate for this important issue!