#wellstone act

[odinsblog]

When the Public Health Emergency ends "for people without insurance, there will no longer be a pathway through Medicaid for free COVID-19 testing, vaccines, or treatment."

“The costs of COVID-19 vaccines are also expected to skyrocket once the government stops buying them, with Pfizer saying it will charge as much as $130 per dose. … People with private insurance could have some out-of-pocket costs for vaccines, especially if they go to an out-of-network provider, Levitt said. Free at-home COVID tests will also come to an end.” (source)

SO so glad that Joe Biden sided with big pharma and blocked the Wellstone Act for greedy corporations like Gilead Sciences back in the year 2000. And SO happy that he was vehemently against Medicare For All. 🤬

The long and short of this is that if you are poor and/or uninsured, you are going to need to pay for your own COVID tests and vaccinations.

Now ask yourself: if an underpaid frontline worker like a food server or grocery store clerk—remember when everyone was calling them “heroes” & essential workers?—if those workers feel sick but don’t have any paid time off and can’t afford to pay for their own test and vaccines, do you think they are going to take a week off without pay, or continue working and possibly spreading the virus? Rhetorical question; this already happens.

Welcome to America. If you’re poor, you’re dead.

[ro-rogue]

i have very mixed feelings about the new bostin confrontation that got john expelled.

it is portrayed as the worst of john's actions in new bostin, his lowest, most violent moment. and while that last part is not untrue, i feel like the confrontation is a lot more complicated than just john going insane.

by that point, john had already been king for a little while, and he was absolutely terrible at it. (i've written before on why i think that is, and even his objectively horrible actions here were not excusable but understandable.) claire decided he needed to be stopped, and she gathered a bunch of their schoolmates to confront him, as her vision had shown. then, instead of trying to talk it out, zirian (one of the people she had gathered, for some reason) immediately attacked john, and everything devolved from there.

now, a few things stick out to me here:

first of all, claire took zirian with her to confront john. the question is: why? john and zirian had already fought on multiple occassions, and last time they fought, john had beaten zirian. did claire think seeing someone john defeated in a fair fight would make him realize he was a horrible person? did she think that if people saw zirian, they too would be willing to confront john? but wouldn't those people then think they were going to beat john up? did she not realize that if people believed her lie enough to follow her, they would be prepared to act on it too? i really struggle with her thought process here.

next, zirian thought that they could beat john if they all worked together. this supports my theory that the kids in new bostin had absolutely no idea how powerful a god-tier was. the wellston kids would never try to gang up like that on pre-ability loss seraphina - they knew she was too strong.

however, they did gang up on john at least sixteen-to-one (in episode 185, the shot with the most classmates shows sixteen people). when claire was telling the story to seraphina, she made it sound like it was completely unreasonable that john assumed that a group of people who all hated him, at least some of whom he had fought before, including the former king, would want to attack and overthrow him. "he refused to listen" is true, and something john has struggled with a lot both before and after the ambush, but to be honest, in his shoes, i also wouldn't have believed claire.

moreover, he is criticized for going too far in beating them up, but imo that mostly applies to claire and adrion, who weren't actually attacking him. the other fifteen kids were very clearly willing to hurt him just as much as he ended up hurting them. besides, they were attacking him fifteen-to-one, with claire standing to the side - what was john supposed to do? hold back?

the answer, of course, is yes: he should've. it was absolutely not right for him to go that far. but we must understand that john was sixteen, stressed, hurt, and facing people who were likely his former bullies, in the sense that everyone used to bully him.

(plus claire, who gathered everyone there, and how was he supposed to know that she didn't mean for it to turn out like that? and plus adrion, who called the authorities on him, which was objectively a good decision, but it can be hard to see it that way when you're the one who the cops are being called on)

in addition to that, if seraphina or even arlo had been ganged up on like that, no one would be surprised if they, too, fucked up their opponents. (remember that turf war back in episode 17/18/something? where arlo clearly wasn't just going to stop hurting rein, not until seraphina physically stopped him?) john was out of control and very much Not Okay, but his handling of the ambush actually seems to be quite typical for a god-tier.

so to conclude, the new bostin ambush/confrontation was more complex than simply john going crazy, and while both he and claire definitely think that he is the only one at fault there and he acted completely irrationally, that isn't actually the case, and uno readers should be aware that we are viewing the story from the perspectives of biased and thus unreliable narrators.

[the-reincarnated-princess]

Tell us about your Isen x Evie brainrot

To fit the themes of UnOrdinary, it would make sense that, maybe not right away, but later on, there's one of the most powerful students ending in a relationship with a low tier. Remi and Blyke are together or will be, Sera and John is all but acted, and i dont see Arlo with anyone, and anyway i dont think he would get with a low tier even now that he's changed sides. (Or Arlo x Elaine if we really want to work with teased crushes, tho not on arlo's side again)

But Isen isnt teased with anyone yet, except to have a slight crush on Remi at the beginning, which isnt likely to happen now that she's with Blyke.

So Isen could end up with a lower level, it would fit the themes. Since he had a crush on remi, his type seems to be the assertive, confident girls, with a pinkish-shade of hair.

But he also almost died as a vigilante and he'd probably be happier with a girl who isnt running headfirst in situations.

Who is a low tier with dark pink hair and some confidence but also caution? Evie.

Now let's study the problem from Evie's point of view. She has multiple male friends (Terrence, Dylan, Roland...) none of which are teased with her. I dont think her female friends are teased with her either so let's pretend, for this thought experiment, she's into boys.

She's one of the smartest pupils in Wellston (word of god established it) and she's loyal to a fault (sticking with Sera when she's getting beaten up). But on top of that, she is brave enough to actually get into the whole Safe House establishment. She voted for John to be able to come on the trip, etc. Her character arc since the beginning, much more than that of similar characters (Dylan, Roland, Illena and the other low and mid tiers) has been to stop fearing the high-tiers.

Which is why, re: themes of how it's bad to isolate the tiers from each other, I think if there is a "mixed-tiers" couple at the end of the comics, she'll be one half of it.

And while his tracker ability makes him srtonger than the average, it's not an offensive ability on its own, so Isen is maybe the least threatening of the elite-and-more-tiers in school. So if Evie ends up having a crush on one of the top 10, I can imagine him to be the one she would actually dare to go to and ask out. He's the safest best even if no one that powerful is really safe.

Anyway she is a bit of the narrative mirror of Isen: both are the smartest person in their group (Isen can crack into restricted files and Evie is one of the smartest people in school); both have a more muted hair colour than one of the strongest people in school (desaturated yellow unlike the bright gold of Arlo; desaturated purple unlike the bright purple of Sera) and these muted colours, yellow and purple, are complimentary; both are the weakest person in their group and feel bad about not being able to protect people (Evie is 1.5 and one of the weakest students in school and wanted to learn how to protect herself via martial arts; Isen's ability is useless to fight and he constantly tried to get out of the whole vigilante/civil insurrection thing until pushed to make a stand).

On top of that, with Sera and the Safe House bridging the divide, Evie and Isen now have common friends and acquaintances. And Evie has started gravitating towards Blyke Remi and Isen with the field trip storyline etc.

If we leave the dominion of canon and themes, I just think they'd suit each other so well because I've decided so. The made up versions of them I have in my mind would go well together. Also can you imagine post-canon Isen and Evie, him a journalist, her a politician representing the low-tiers, or something, both still gravitating in the same circles as his elite-tiers friends and family but also bridging the gap with her low-tiers friends and family? Their dinner table being the place where people of all tiers have their place?

That being said, for now Isen's strongest relationships are friends (Blyke and Remi) and that suits me perfectly. I wouldn't mind either of them finishing the series singles, particularly if the series ends before they are out of high school.

[uno-writing]

so I was rereading johns king arc to make myself sad again

and I remembered that I have a big project due in like 1 day but instead of doing it im gonna procrastinate and ask for ✨john angst✨ so I become sadder

anyway hope ur not combining pb and brown sugar again and have been eating radish anon's veggies

🍿🥤🍭🍬🍫🧋🥨🥬🍦🍧🧊🐇🍩🥖📦🌻🥀🥒🧃🍰🌮🔫🌷

The halls of Wellston High were bustling with students, but you didn't pay attention to any of them. Your mind was consumed with thoughts of John, the boy you had fallen in love with. But lately, he had been acting different. He had become more brutal, more ruthless in his quest to become the top dog of the Wellston hierarchy.

You couldn't stand it. You had seen the way he had beaten down other students, leaving them bloody and broken. It made your heart ache to see him like this.

As you walked down the hallway, lost in thought, someone bumped into you, jolting you out of your reverie. You looked up to see John standing in front of you, a scowl on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, his voice cold and distant.

"I just…I don't understand why you have to be so brutal," you said, your voice wavering slightly.

John's scowl deepened. "I have to be brutal to survive in this school. You should know that by now."

"I know that," you said, your voice rising slightly. "But it doesn't have to be like this. You don't have to hurt people to be on top."

John's eyes narrowed. "You don't get it," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "You don't understand what it's like to be at the bottom, to be constantly beaten down and humiliated. I have to be strong to survive, and if that means being brutal, then so be it."

"But at what cost?" you asked, tears streaming down your face. "Is being on top really worth sacrificing your humanity?"

John didn't answer. He just stared at you, his expression unreadable. You knew then that you had lost him, that he had become too consumed with his own power to see reason.

As you turned to walk away, you couldn't help but feel a sense of despair wash over you. You loved John, but you couldn't condone his actions. You couldn't be with someone who was so willing to sacrifice everything for power.

As you walked down the hallway, you couldn't help but wonder if there was anything you could do to save John from himself. But deep down, you knew that it was too late. John had already lost himself to the brutal world of Wellston, and there was nothing you could do to bring him back.

[deadpresidents]

What other campaign souvenirs do you have with that badge you shared?

It's actually not a ton of stuff. I wish I'd been better over the years about collecting campaign memorabilia because I'm always jealous whenever I see someone who has a cool collection of things.

I have a ton of buttons and stickers from the Obama campaigns, as well as an Obama '08 yard sign that's signed by Obama. I have a stack of Clinton/Gore bumper stickers that I somehow held on to after all these years.

In 2000, I was young and idealistic and caught up in the excitement of the first Presidential campaign I was of legal voting age for, so I jumped on the Bill Bradley bandwagon very early on in the Democratic primaries. Most of you probably have no idea who Bill Bradley even was, but he was the 2000 version of Bernie Sanders once the legendary Paul Wellstone decided against running for President. Deep down, we all knew that Vice President Gore was going to be the nominee, but there was some excitement for Bradley early on even though he didn't win anything and was basically finished by Super Tuesday. I have some Bradley buttons and stickers, and I have an invitation to a Bill Bradley fundraiser that was going to be held at the home of Geoff Petrie in Granite Bay, a wealthy suburb of Sacramento. At the time, Petrie was the General Manager of the Sacramento Kings and he was a close friend of Bradley, so that was exciting for a 20-year-old basketball fanatic. (Oh...for those who really don't know anything about Bill Bradley, I should also note that not only was he a U.S. Senator from New Jersey, but before that he was star basketball player who won two NBA titles with the New York Knicks and is in the pro and college Basketball Hall of Fame.)

Other than that, I have some posters and a ton of buttons from various campaigns. When I lived in Austin and was regularly going to the @lbjlibrary I would often buy handfuls of the assorted campaign buttons that they sold in their gift shop. I don't know if they still sell them, but it was a huge collection from dozens of different Presidential campaigns from various decades. I think the oldest button I ended up with was for Al Smith's 1928 Democratic Presidential campaign. I'm especially fond of my Wendell Willkie button because it's always fun to mention Wendell Willkie. I got a bunch of Nixon and McGovern buttons and even got a Romney button, but it's not for Mitt -- it's for the unsuccessful campaign for the 1968 GOP nomination by his father, former Michigan Governor George Romney. I have a McGovern/Eagleton button from 1972, which is interesting because Thomas Eagleton was nominated as McGovern's Vice Presidential running mate at the 1972 Democratic Nation Convention and then dropped from the ticket for Sargent Shriver just nineteen days later. And of course, I got a TON of LBJ and LBJ-related buttons -- from the 1964 campaign which sometimes featured LBJ and sometimes featured Hubert Humphrey and sometimes featured both LBJ and HHH, and from the 1960 Kennedy/Johnson campaign.

Here are a few of them (the "We Shall Overcome" button is my favorite:)

The coolest bit of political memorabilia that I have are a set of staff passes from the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment proceedings for President Clinton's impeachment in 1998, including one from the day that the special prosecutor, Kenneth Starr, testified. Former Republican Congressman James E. Rogan, who was one of the thirteen Republicans House Managers who actually acted as prosecutors during the Senate trial following the President's Clinton's impeachment, wrote a really great book called Catching Our Flag: Behind the Scenes of a Presidential Impeachment (BOOK | KINDLE) that I reviewed way back in 2011. In the book, Congressman Rogan (he's a Judge in California now) mentioned that he was a collector of political memorabilia and that he was very cognizant of the fact that he was playing a part in a major historical event -- which I mentioned in the review -- and I also noted that I respected how fair his book was despite the fact that he was a major political player in the impeachment and that he was so clearly from the opposite side of the political tracks than I am. His fairness actually resulted in President Clinton offering to help when Rogan was struggling to win re-election to Congress after the impeachment (which Rogan was grateful for, but turned down because it would hurt him more with his GOP supporters than any Democrats on the fence). ANYWAY...after I posted my review, Congressman Rogan contacted me and thanked me for the review and SENT ME SOME OF THE PASSES THAT HE HAD SAVED FROM THE IMPEACHMENT:

Here's the review of Congressman Rogan's book from 2011 (go buy it). Here's a post where I wrote a little more detail about getting the passes sent to me (and about the whole idea of tickets to impeachment proceedings in general). Also, as I noted in that post, if you are a stalker or a hater, don't go to the address on the letter that Congressman Rogan sent me in that photo because I haven't lived in Texas since 2011. (Also, if you're a stalker who looks like Shakira or Tessa Thompson, just send me a message and I'll give you my address.)

[chrissorensen]

This summer I had the pleasure of photographing psychologist Gayle Berg for @bostonu. In addition to her practice in rehabilitative psychology, she has worked for decades as a mental health advocate to improve and expand access to quality mental health care. She and others lobbied Congress for equal treatment of mental health conditions and substance use disorders in insurance plans and in 2008, Congress passed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equality Act. Her work and dedication has made mental illness less stigmatized and less discriminated against in the workplace and in insurance. Thanks to @cherrylhanson_bull for the assignment and to Gayle for being great to work with. . #gayleberg #bostonuniversity #portraiture #portraitoftheday #portraitphotography #portraitphotographer #portraitperfection #makeportraits #makeportraitsnotwar #editorial #editorialphotography #editorialphotographer #editorialshoot #mediumformat #portraitvision #portraitmood #portrait_vision #portrait_mood #portrait_planet #portrait_mf #myfujifilm #fuji #fujifilm #fujifeed #fujifilm_us #gfx100s #gf3264mm #onassignment #onlocation https://www.instagram.com/p/ClTxRESAOFX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[proserpine-in-phases]

Today marks 20 years since Minnesota senator paul wellstone died. Sometimes I wonder where we'd be if he hadnt died in that plane crash. The 2002 midterm election was the only one i havent voted in since i became able to vote in 2000, and i still feel pretty shit for not voting, because Mondale, wellstone's replacement on the ballot, lost by less than 40000 votes which. Sure, I couldnt have made up for that with my one vote, but only 60% of minnesotans voted in that election

If more of us had come out and voted, we wouldnt have had norm Coleman in office those 6 years, voting in favor of the patriot act and the iraq invasion and every other dumb thing the Bush administration decided to do

And if wellstone hadnt died, he likely would have won, and he would have continued to vote in favor of the middle and working classes and against the dumb shit bush and the Senate Republicans were doing.

Anyway in 2008 Al Franken won the senate seat by only 300-some votes

So you know. That was close.

Anyway. Fucking vote lol

[jubilee-road]

Petite pub - Recherche de personnages

Bonjour, bonjour !

Sur @unordinaryrpg je recherche les frères de ma petite Olivia ainsi que des amies pour Meissa ☺️

👉 Unordinary c'est un rpg joué sur discord, avec un univers dystopique basé autour de la lutte des classes, des super-pouvoirs, de l'héroïsme et de la criminalité, le tout dans une société réaliste. On est encore peu nombreux.ses mais le rpg a vraiment un gros potentiel, les admins sont vraiment douées et très compréhensives sur les potentielles absences ou autres.

Je recherche en particulier les cinq personnages suivant, mais y en a d'autres très intéressant à feuilleter sur le wiki 👀

📝 A noter que ces personnages sont des semi-prédéfinis donc beaucoup de choses sont modifiables et surtout vous avez beaucoup de liberté pour étoffer leurs histoires !

1. Benedict Lear. 33 ans. Avocat. Alter de voyage multi-dimensionnel. Avatar/FC: Jonathan Groff (modifiable)

👉 Benedict c'est le syndrome de l'enfant roi, le cliché du fils à papa (ou à maman ici en l'occurrence) qui abuse des privilèges offerts par la richesse et la position sociale de sa famille.  Il a toujours été affreux avec ses frères et soeurs (voir la plupart des gens). Il peut potentiellement être impliqué dans le syndicat criminel qui terrorise la ville et s'en prend aux héros, son père en étant un membre important.

🔗 Bio de Benedict

2. Lysandre Lear. 29 ans. Inspecteur de police. Alter de voyage spatio-temporel . Avatar/FC: Tom Webb (modifiable)

👉 Lys c'est l'optimiste, la petite lueur de cette famille si mauvaise, imbue d'elle même et enivrée de pouvoir. On se demande même comment il a pu si bien tourner et où il a trouvé les valeurs de justice, de paix et d'acceptation des autres qu'il défend autant. En tant que policier, il cherche à réformer l'institution de l'intérieur. Il aide son meilleur ami et amant en cachette dans son rôle de super-héros. Jusqu'à ce que son père ne découvre ses manigances et ne l'oblige à commettre l'irréparable... Si Lysandre fait déjà partie des autorités, il pourrait aussi devenir un héros et reprendre le flambeau de l'homme qu'il aimait, et/ou être poussé dans le syndicat criminel à cause de son père (à discuter avec les admins)

⚠️ TW sur cette bio : Mention de violences familiales et de drogues, violences policières, homophobie, meurtre. 

🔗 Bio de Lysandre

3. Edgar Lear. 27 ans. Au chômage. Double-alter de voyage spatio-temporel et voyage multi-dimensionnel. Avatar/FC: Hunter Doohan (modifiable)

👉 Edgar c'est le vilain petit canard de la fratrie. Celui qui promettait à la famille Lear de briller plus encore qu'elle ne le faisait, mais qui finit brisé par l'immence puissance de ses pouvoirs et rejetté par ses parents à qui il n'apporte désormais plus rien que de la honte et des ennuis. Edgar n'a pas une vie facile. Les dérapages de ses alter qui lui font vivre le temps dans un sens différent des autres n'aide pas les choses. Il voudrait fuir Wellston, mais témoin du terrible acte commis par Lysandre il revient dans cette ville maudite pour essayer aussi maladroitement que possible d'empêcher son aîné et sa cadette de sombrer. 

⚠️ TW sur cette bio: Violence familiale, maltraitance physique et verbale, drogue (très récurrent), overdose, meurtre et tentative de s*de

🔗 Bio d'Edgar

4. Alex Williams. 35 ans. Vendeuse (lieu au choix) et bénévole au Foyer. Héroïne à ses heures perdues. Alter de pyrophysiologie. Avatar/FC: Denise Bidot (modifiable)

👉 Alex a toujours fait de son père son héros et compte bien marcher sur ses traces. Dans son adolescence elle était colérique, en conflit constant avec le monde. Si elle s'est calmée en grandissant sa soif de justice l'oblige. Héroïne depuis son adolescence, elle entre également dans un groupe de défense des bas quartiers avec sa partenaire, Charlie. Mais les autorités et le syndicat criminel voient ce petit groupe d'un mauvais oeil et ses membres en subiront les conséquences. Pour protéger sa vie et celle de sa compagne, Alex fuit la ville. Si elle dit avoir raccroché la cape, la vérité c'est qu'elle continue à faire des aller-retour à Wellston sans en avertir sa fiancée. Et à leur retour (quand elle sera jouée), elle compte bien reprendre le rôle d'héroïne qu'elle n'a jamais réellement cessé de jouer.

⚠️ TW de cette bio: Environnement familial toxique, violence domestique, mentions d'addiction, d'agression et de mort.

🔗 Bio d'Alex

5. Charlie Ho. 36 ans. Médiatrice culturelle. Alter d'hydrogénésie. Avatar/FC: Yvonne Chapman (modifiable)

👉 Charlie vient d'une famille aisée de Wellston et son destin bascule dans son adolescence. Après un passage au foyer, elle fait sa vie dans les bas quartier aux côtés d'Alex. Les tensions et problèmes toujours plus fréquents la pousse à rejoindre avec sa compagne un groupe de défense mis en place dans le quartier. C'est là qu'elle rencontre Meissa. Mais les autorités et le syndicat criminel voient ce petit groupe d'un mauvais oeil et ses membres en subiront les conséquences. Charlie fuit la ville avec Alex pour protéger sa vie. Elle n'y revient qu'en 2024 (où quand elle sera prise) après avoir obtenu des indices sur la tragique nuit du 24 décembre 2017. Sans le dire à sa femme, Charlie se lance dans une enquête dangereuse, pour tenter de mieux comprendre ce qui a pu arriver à ses amis.

⚠️ TW de cette bio: Outing, aggression, mention de mort.

🔗 Bio de Charlie

Si l'un de ces personnages vous intéresse ou que vous avez des questions n'hésitez pas à me contacter ou à contacter les admins sur le discord du rpg☺️

[swisshealth24]

Mental Health Parity: Ensuring Equal Access to Mental and Physical Healthcare

Mental health parity refers to the principle of ensuring equal access to mental health and substance use disorder services in healthcare coverage compared to physical health services. Historically, mental health services have been subject to discrimination and disparities in coverage, resulting in barriers to access and inadequate treatment for individuals with mental health conditions. Mental health parity laws aim to address these disparities by mandating equal coverage for mental health and physical health services in insurance plans. This article explores the importance of mental health parity, the evolution of mental health parity laws, and the ongoing efforts to achieve equitable access to mental healthcare.

Importance of Mental Health Parity

Mental health parity is essential for promoting equitable access to healthcare and addressing the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness. Mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, Hyperthermia Therapy in Frankfurt and substance use disorders, are prevalent and can have significant impacts on individuals' well-being, functioning, and quality of life. Access to timely and effective mental healthcare is crucial for individuals with mental health conditions to receive appropriate diagnosis, treatment, and support. Mental health parity ensures that individuals have access to the same level of care for mental health conditions as they do for physical health conditions, promoting better health outcomes and reducing disparities in healthcare access.

Evolution of Mental Health Parity Laws

The journey towards mental health parity has been marked by legislative efforts at the federal and state levels to eliminate disparities in insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorder services. The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 was the first federal law aimed at prohibiting discrimination in insurance coverage for mental health benefits. However, this law had limited impact due to loopholes and exemptions, leading to continued disparities in coverage. In response to growing recognition of the need for comprehensive mental health parity, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) was enacted, which expanded protections for mental health and substance use disorder benefits in group health plans. The MHPAEA requires parity in financial requirements (such as copayments and deductibles), treatment limitations (such as visit limits and prior authorization requirements), and nonquantitative treatment limitations (such as medical management criteria) between mental health/substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits.

Challenges and Ongoing Efforts

Despite the passage of federal and state mental health parity laws, challenges remain in ensuring full compliance and enforcement of parity requirements. Insurers and employers may still impose discriminatory practices or limitations on mental health benefits, such as higher copayments, stricter utilization management, or narrower provider networks for mental health services. Additionally, disparities in access to Biological Immunotherapy in Cancer, particularly for underserved populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities, low-income individuals, and rural communities. Ongoing efforts are needed to address these challenges and promote full implementation of mental health parity laws, including:

Education and Awareness: Increasing awareness among consumers, healthcare providers, insurers, and policymakers about mental health parity laws and their rights and responsibilities under these laws.

Enforcement and Oversight: Strengthening enforcement mechanisms and oversight of mental health parity compliance at the federal and state levels to ensure that insurers and employers adhere to parity requirements.

Expanding Access to Care: Improving access to mental healthcare services, particularly in underserved communities, through initiatives such as telehealth, integrated care models, and workforce development programs.

Reducing Stigma and Discrimination: Combatting stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness through public education campaigns, anti-stigma initiatives, and advocacy efforts to promote understanding and acceptance of mental health conditions.

Conclusion

Mental health parity is essential for ensuring equal access to mental health and substance use disorder services and reducing disparities in healthcare coverage. The passage of federal and state mental health parity laws represents significant progress in addressing discrimination and inequities in insurance coverage for mental health benefits. However, challenges remain in achieving full compliance and enforcement of parity requirements, as well as in reducing barriers to access to mental healthcare services. By continuing to advocate for mental health parity, raising awareness, and implementing policies and initiatives to expand access to care, we can work towards a healthcare system where individuals receive equitable treatment for both their mental and physical health needs.

[beehiveofblorbos]

assigning unordinary characters equivalents to other fandoms im in:

john -> yuki

I’ve already discussed this, but John and DRA Yuki have cool similarities. I’m not gonna really go super in depth but they’re both protags with a kinda unstable mental state. Yuki is the protag that nearly falls into despair the most by FAR, and John’s anger issues and trauma constantly cause him to act out. However, their kinder sides are what really allow them to make a change in those around them; Yuki in Tsurugi Rei Teruya and John in Sera and even Remi arguably

bonus: fuyuhiko

seraphina -> kamisato ayaka

both are representatives of their family legacy who had to take up more responsibility when a significant event impacted them. for sera that was leilah running away and for ayaka that was the death of her mother. both are well known in their community as role models exactly bc of their power; Sera as Wellston’s goddess and Ace and Ayaka as the Shirasagi Himegimi who her people look up to and praise. both are well off in their society but choose to take a stand against the bad/evil parts of their govt as a result of a relationship w a close friend; for Sera, becoming friends w John showed her how screwed up the hierarchy was and for Ayaka, I mean she saw the effects of losing Visions in her people but Thoma’s near Vision loss forced her to lay low instead of being as active as she was previously

bonus: kyouko, miraculous kagami

arlo -> tsurugi

Arlo and Tsurugi are both characters built around the prioritization of their ideal over themselves as a person. For Arlo, that’s his *responsibility* to the wellbeing of the many and for Tsurugi, that’s the sanctity of the law. They’re both cops at some point too XD very precocious and impressive characters. Both also kinda soften up after someone else shows them there’s a better way to do things

[kiss-my-freckle]

Distorting the senses. Liz kept her face, so she hired a female cyranoid. But she hired a male interpreter in The Wellstone Agency, so... just as they hear Raymond when Katarina speaks, they hear Alexander when Liz speaks. Whoever took Liz to Krilov, he's Kate's male counterpart.

Liz: You and Kate underestimate me. Red: Oh, so she’s here too. Liz: Do you see her? Red: I do, without even having to look.

I’m basically saying Liz was acting as an “imposter male” that’s written parallel to imposter Raymond, and that imposter male was set to take over Red’s empire. 

Major: I don’t care if she’s Queen Elizabeth and screwing her made you king.

[strangertooplay]

Broadway World: New Play 'I Was A Stranger Too' To Open in St. Paul

BROADWAY WORLD

www.broadwayworld.com/minneapolis

New Play I WAS A STRANGER TOO Highlights Hope Amid Danger In Asylum System

Asylum seekers and refugee needs in the U.S. and around the world fill the news. But what can one person do?

by A.A. Cristi Jan. 10, 2023  

Asylum seekers and refugee needs in the U.S. and around the world fill the news. But what can one person do?

'I Was A Stranger Too,' a new play by Cynthia L. Cooper and directed by Carolyn Levy, tells the stories of people who are seeking asylum and those who help them. The play will have four performances, Jan 26 -29, at The Neighborhood House (Wellstone Center) in St. Paul.

Drawn from dozens of interviews, 'I Was A Stranger Too,' is set in Minnesota, where refugee resettlement is among the nation's highest per capita. The play follows a woman who, propelled by the memory of her mother's rescue from the Holocaust, is drawn to help asylum seekers. In unfolding monologues, she encounters a rich mosaic of people who are fleeing persecution, anti-LGBTI violence, civil strife and other threats, and individuals determined to welcome them.

"The play takes audience members beyond stereotypes to the power and capacity of the human spirit, sharing the hopes that can emerge from a single act of caring," said Carolyn Levy, director.

Featured in the play are Bethmari Márquez Barreto, Kirby Bennett, Nicole Frethem, Mahmoud Hakima, Megan Kim, Jasmine Porter, Shona Ramchandani, Abigail Ramsay, and Phasoua Vang; Karina Hunt is the Production Manager and music is by Leslie Steinweiss.

Carolyn Levy, director, is a former professor of theatre at Hamline University, where she founded a Social Justice Theatre program. She has worked at Theatre Unbound, Park Square, Penumbra Theatre Summer Institute and the Minnesota Jewish Theatre Company.

Playwright Cynthia L. Cooper is a two-time Jerome fellow at the Playwrights Center. An award-winning playwright with productions off-Broadway and across the country and plays in 17 volumes, Cooper lives and is active in the theater in New York.

'I Was A Stranger Too' was selected as a finalist in the Jewish Plays Project, for the Trish Vrandenberg Prize, a semi-finalist at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and is a grant recipient of Rimon (Minnesota Jewish Arts Council), and the Alliance of Jewish Theatres.

Performances will be Thursday January 26 and Friday January 27 at 7 pm, Saturday January 28 and Sunday January 29 at 2 pm at the Neighborhood House (Wellstone Center), 179 Robie Street East in St. Paul. Tickets are pay what you wish (suggested $10).

Performances will be followed by talk backs with experts and community activists in the field.

Info:

Click Here to Buy Tickets

[mariacallous]

The death of the Wellstones and the others on that plane were sad for personal reasons. But, in retrospect, what followed was more instructive about the direction our politics would take. One of the speakers at Wellstone’s funeral made a partisan speech. I watched it on television and thought it was out of place. But what followed shocked me.

Newspaper websites and e-mail accounts were new at the time. Most letters to the editor still came to the office by mail or hand delivered in the flesh by local cranks. Much of my time was spent typesetting these very screeds. But on the day after Wellstone’s funeral, hundreds of e-mails began pouring into the newspaper inbox.

They were all exactly the same, signed by different people. The message decried the skullduggery of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party for exploiting Wellstone’s death. Some website autogenerated the letters and spammed the inboxes of every newspaper in Minnesota. The effort was ham-handed by modern standards. These were clearly not original letters by unique individuals, but a shotgun campaign. Nevertheless, it would be 24 hours before I could sort out this massive influx of artificial sentiment. By that time, new letters began to arrive that seemed to quote from the first batch.

Between talk radio and the coordinated messaging of these letters, the tone of how Wellstone’s death was reported changed immediately. A grief-stricken DFL called Walter Mondale out of retirement to run as a replacement candidate. Mondale’s rust, the partisanship accusations, and political headwinds combined to sink Mondale’s candidacy. Coleman won in what would be the last Minnesota GOP U.S. Senate win to date.

This was the beginning of a divide that was less about policy and more about the perceived realities of fellow citizens.

Had he lived, Paul Wellstone would be 78 today. He might not be a senator anymore but, then again, old age hardly disqualifies one from the United States Senate. We can only imagine how Wellstone might have reacted to the last 20 years of politics. 

It seems unlikely he’d enjoy the results, but who really has? Republicans and Democrats have both won elections in the past two decades. But these victories only brought their supporters momentary relief and no lasting joy. A handful of major outcomes were achieved — the Affordable Care Act for Democrats; a conservative Supreme Court for Republicans — but no one sleeps well while thinking about American politics.

That’s what we lost in 2002. Not just Wellstone, but a world where happy warriors for righteous causes could exist outside their partisan holding pens. His death didn’t cause this problem, but it did reveal the schism in American life unearthed by 9/11 and our chaotic, divergent media landscape. Wellstone’s were a politics of rolling up sleeves and diving into the kitchen to meet the staff, no matter their demographics. After he died, more of us began looking at our chosen screens and repeating the things we saw there. This was and is to our great detriment.

Here comes another election, one in which all sides fight for the survival of separate but equally fragile narratives. Yes, we should vote. No, we should not despair. But we cannot forget what was taken from us in the shadows of 9/11 and the rise of authoritarian tendencies here and around the world.

Democracy is an act of faith, and all good faith must sometimes suffer the darkness. We would do well to remember the quote Paul so often repeated, “Whatever happened to the idea that we all do better when we all do better?”

People die, but ideas may be reborn with the touch of a worker’s hand. E pluribus unum. 

[odinsblog]

The pharmaceutical lobby scored a major win earlier this month when it stopped House Democrats from adding language to the emergency coronavirus funding bill that would have pressured drug companies to make coronavirus vaccines affordable. Instead, the industry secured language in the bill that prevents the government from taking any action to address vaccine prices that could delay their development.

There are, however, existing executive powers that could be used to keep coronavirus vaccine prices low. In 1980, when Congress passed the Bayh-Dole Act establishing procedures for private companies to patent inventions built upon government-funded research, it created a safety valve allowing the government to break such patents when companies fail to satisfy the health and safety needs of consumers.

The authority, known as “march-in rights,” lets the government seize patents in these cases and license the rights to responsible third parties. The authority could likely be used for vaccines like the one currently being developed by Moderna in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

It will be at least a year until a vaccine is ready, according to NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the question is whether whoever is president then will be willing to use this power against the drug companies.

Unlike many of the leading Democrats who ran in the presidential primary, former Vice President Joe Biden has not embraced the use of march-in rights against pharmaceutical companies. In October, The Hill surveyed Democratic presidential candidates on their willingness to use march-in rights and found that Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg either included the idea in their pharmaceutical policy platforms or told the reporters that they were supportive of it.

Biden does not call for using march-in rights in his campaign materials and he did not respond to The Hill’s questions on the matter. Sludge asked the Biden campaign on March 16 if Biden would be open to invoking march-in rights for coronavirus drugs built upon NIH research, but, like The Hill, did not receive a response.  

In not embracing march-in rights, Biden is aligned with the pharmaceutical industry, which launched a coalition led by two of its top lobbying groups, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), to push back against calls for using the authority.

Biden’s COVID-19 plan calls for new authority for the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary to approve the commercial price of vaccines developed with federally funded research. Such authority would either require an act of Congress, which has not shown an ability to go against the pharmaceutical lobby, or specific language to be included in drug development contracts. For the many coronavirus drugs already being developed, such as the vaccine candidate currently being tested by NIH and Moderna, it’s likely too late for contractual language to be added.

The pharmaceutical industry has given Biden far more campaign money than anyone else who has run for president this cycle, including President Trump. Joe Biden’s campaign and the outside groups backing him have taken over $1.34 million from the pharmaceuticals and health products industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. For context, Trump has received about $752,000 from the industry this cycle, while Sanders has received about $422,000.

The Biden campaign’s ties to the drug industry go much deeper than the contributions it has received. His campaign chairman and top aide, Steve Richetti, is a longtime healthcare lobbyist who has personally represented drugmakers Novartis, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Sanofi on issues related to pricing and patents, among other matters.

(continue reading) 

[memecucker]

Under the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which governs the transfer of federally-funded research to the private sector, the government retains “march-in rights” that allow it to seize the patents for taxpayer-funded drugs and other inventions when “action is necessary to alleviate health and safety needs which are not being reasonably satisfied” or when they are not being “made available to the public under reasonable terms” and license them to responsible third parties to provide competition. It’s one of the main ways the executive branch could address excessive drug prices without needing action from Congress, which has been deadlocked on drug pricing reform measures for years.

Once finalized, the new rule would say that the government cannot use march-in rights solely because a government-funded drug or other product is being sold at an excessive price. The change has been a major lobbying aim of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and other industry groups that have seen more and more voters tell pollsters that the high cost of prescription drugs is among their top concerns.

“This rule takes away the government’s power to act to curb that price abuse by authorizing generic competition, and we think that’s 180 degrees the wrong move at this time,” said Peter Maybarduk, director of the access to medicines program at the nonprofit Public Citizen. “We expect Biden to use this power during his tenure rather than repeal it, given the scale of the problem.”

The rulemaking was initiated by NIST on January 4, just days before Biden took office. The public comment period for the regulatory change ended on April 5, after more than 81,000 comments were submitted.

The rule “almost slipped through unnoticed because this is not an office that’s frequently in the public light and it’s sort of a technical rule,” said Maybarduk. “We almost had a situation where pharma allies stripped this government power without anyone noticing, but because it was noticed now there is an outcry.”

Although the rule change would apply to all kinds of inventions, it would primarily impact the pharmaceutical industry, which makes heavy use of research from universities that receive federal research funding. Every petition that the government has received asking it to use march-in rights since Bayh-Dole was enacted has pertained to a pharmaceutical, most often around concerns of price gouging, though they have all faced strong industry opposition and been rejected.

Joe Biden has stood against many Democrats for decades when it comes to the government using its power to influence drug pricing. In 1995, he was one of eight Democrats who voted to table a Sen. Paul Wellstone amendment to restore a clause in contracts requiring that publicly funded drugs be reasonably priced, which had been stripped by the Clinton administration at the behest of the pharmaceutical lobby. During the 2020 presidential primary campaign, Biden declined to endorse the use of march-in rights for driving down drug costs, unlike Buttigieg, Harris, Sanders, and Warren, who all included march-in in their drug pricing reform platforms.

[wojira]

ok ive never gone on unordinary tumblr before but i wanna see if anyone else has noticed this about Seraphina that is still going unadressed

We know Uru chan likes to do some fun little symbolic things with the chat bubble colours (John’s chat bubble changing from white to black for reasons) but there’s something unusual about Sera’s chat colour too. She’s quite visibly the only character who’s chat bubble doesn’t match her hair colour at all, instead its weirdly clashy, with her chat bubbles being much more of a blue-y purple than her actual hair colour which is almost pink with little bits of green.

*below you’ll see her usual appearance and chat bubble, then with her hair being edited to match her chat bubble, then with the chat bubble edited to match her hair

But wait, that middle one. Doesn’t it look familiar?

she and Leilah would look a lot more alike, maybe this is Uru’s way of saying that Sera bases the way she speaks and acts off her sister. It’d add up with John’s chat bubble being white to match his Dad when he acted as though he had no ability. I guess if you try and act like someone else, your chat bubble will eventually match it.

That’s not to say that Seraphina is doing it intentionally like John though, even after standing up to her mother and going back to Wellston early, she still isn’t quite free of the pressures that come with being a part of one of the families with the most powerful abilities of all. Maybe this is the product of Sera being forced to be the daughter they were certain that they had in Leilah before she ran away. Maybe it had the opposite role when Sera left the royals, she must’ve felt a lot like Lelilah after they both left the responsibilities forced onto them, and maybe early on in the series she wanted to be more like Leilah in how she stood up to her parents.