On Wednesday, Dr. Rani Whitfield, known as the “Hip Hop Doctor,” joined Rev. Sharpton on PoliticsNation to talk about why he’s become a passionate advocate for helping uninsured Americans get access to the health care through his work with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics.
“I’m in a state that has one of the highest uninsured rates in the country,” he told Sharpton. “We’ve got the help these people. People are dying from largely treatable and preventable diseases.”
Protecting the uninsured is even harder in the 19 states opposing the Medicaid expansion included in Obamacare that helps to give health care access to many needy Americans who don’t qualify for Medicaid but often still need help with health coverage.
Governor Bobby Jindal has been a staunch opponent of the expansion in Louisiana, which would insure 214,000 people in the state and bring $15.8 billion in federal funding for the program.
“That’s why I’m so proud to be a part of the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, we’re going to be able to provide health care–the safety net,” he said. “While these politicians continue to bicker and fuss and fight about what they won’t do or what they’re not going to support, we’re going to provide health care to individuals free of charge.”
“We don’t have time to waste, people are dying,” he said.
As Rev. Sharpton explained on the show, the clinic needs viewer support to get that job done.
“Many people say to me all over the country, ‘What can I do to help?’ You need to take this opportunity where people have stepped out and have put themselves on the line to provide free health care to people who are not lazy, who are not doing nothing, who are not beggars, but just need help. Whatever you can do, whatever you can donate–we cannot live in a country where Americans who just don’t make enough to insure themselves, but suffer from diseases, can’t depend on other Americans to say ‘we’re a nation that helps each other.’ I want you to help fellow Americans. This is beyond politics. This is beyond ideology. This is beyond religious. This is looking in the mirror, saying ‘I’m doing something to help somebody in need. That is who I am, that is who I want to be.’”
Morgan Whitaker