Anticipating wide sweeping changes in 2019 to pain management healthcare policy, it is vitally important for the pain community to “get out the vote” in November, 2018.
For a recap summarizing the pain community’s concerns, be sure to check out Pain Advocacy Coalition’s (PAC) platform.
Primarily, there is an unspoken rule to make pain management issues “non-partisan” to preserve unity within the community in an effort to respect differing views, and PAC supports that notion.
We are not telling you who to vote for, but as a demographic it is crucial we vote given the current state of healthcare.
It is vitally important for the pain patient demographic to research potential candidates, to choose cautiously when heading to the polls to send a unified message, if nothing less to show that the pain community is a demographic for elected officials to contend with. We must demonstrate our demographic numbers in the millions, verify that we are galvanized as a community, we are informed, empowered and that we take part in our election process!
For that reason, before you hit the polls be sure to check out Ballotpedia’s Election Analysis Hub 2018
This is a great resource from “start to finish about the candidates and the issues.”
Tens of thousands of elections are taking place in 2018 across the United States, including primary and general elections at the federal, state, and local levels. Within these elections, there were a variety of different trends and patterns that relayed a certain level of political significance. In 2018, we are identifying and following a series of narratives—big picture stories—up-and-down the ballot and across the country throughout the year. This page presents Ballotpedia’s ongoing research and curation on 2018 elections in the United States.
All 435 U.S. House seats and 33 U.S. Senate seats are up for regular elections in the 2018 midterms. Heading into the election, the Republican Party holds a majority in both chambers.
In November 2018, seats in 87 of 99 state legislative chambers, plus 36 gubernatorial seats, 30 lieutenant gubernatorial seats, 30 attorney general seats, and 27 secretary of state seats are up for election.
In 2018, Ballotpedia is covering elections for mayor, city council, and all other city officials in the 100 largest cities by population in the United States, as well as elections for county officials whose jurisdictions overlap with those cities.
While the pain community is as “polarized” about politics as the rest of the country, we all agree that our elected officials have been less than receptive to our feedback about healthcare policy as a demographic.
Because elected officials and their designated officials dictate healthcare policy, it imperative that our community consider who we are electing to office and why. Then respond by showing up to the polls.
Another great tool to identify your local candidates can be found is the USA.gov site.
Find My State or Local Election Office Website
Visit your state’s election office website for state-wide voting guidance. Or use this directory to find your local elections site.
Vote 2018
With that said, because there is so much happening to healthcare policy impacting the pain community, so much secrecy, and policy decisions made behind closed doors without input from the pain community, it is difficult to keep up with all the recent rush to implement policy changes, making it imperative that we question heavily all candidates about their position regarding the “opioid crisis” and demand their commitment to be receptive to the pain community’s concerns going forward.
It is important our demographic, numbering in the millions, identify potential candidates who support our cause for a more balanced and sane approach to pain management and preserving access to individualized medical care.
We hope online tools and resources like Ballotpedia assists the pain community to find the information you need to make informed decisions as you head off to the polls in 2018 to identify the best candidates who are more inclusive to the pain community’s concerns.
For other resources, to assist you to reach out to your elected officials, check out PAC’s online resources.
For more about opioids, legislation and healthcare policy, check out this recent post.
Thanks for getting the vote out this election year and for supporting PAC!
Do the local, state and federal candidates in your state support the pain community?
Tell us about the candidates in your state?
Do they support the pain community?
Will you be voting according to the issues facing the pain community this year?
Give us a shout out @PACRiseUp so we can support those candidates who are supporting the pain community or leave a comment below!
Thanks to Ballotpedia and USA.gov for providing great online tools to inform!