Thread by @DrRobDavidson

As you may have heard, NV & CO have been leading on health care policies lately, passing public options & an Rx drug affordability board. They faced RECORD backlash from the industry, but physician-advocates w/@cmteetoprotect didn't back down. Here's why this fight matters (🧵):

Drug and insurance corporations went to great lengths to protect their ever-growing profits. In Colorado alone their dark-money front groups BROKE RECORDS to try to block the #ColoradoOption. (2/13)
coloradosun.com/2021/04/29/hou…

They spent MILLIONS of dollars to try to stop lawmakers from bringing health care costs down.

But they didn't stop there. (3/13)

Many of these companies told their employees, doctors and health care workers just like me, to keep their mouths shut and to NOT support these policies. They went so far as to *threaten the jobs* of physician-advocates who were working with us to pass them. (4/13)

You read that right. Hospitals and other industry employers sent intimidating emails to staff. Behind closed doors, they threatened health care workers' livelihoods if they dared speak up in favor of these policies. (5/13)

What the industry leaders didn't think about, it seems, is why doctors and medical professionals went into this work in the first place: to help patients.

And that's exactly what physician-advocates with @cmteetoprotect were intent on doing. (6/13)

As I've written before, more and more doctors are feeling the need to advocate for patients even after their shifts end. Until all Americans can get the care they need to be healthy, our work won't be done. Our oath won't be fulfilled. (7/13)
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Doctors realize the status quo is broken, and they're tired of staying silent. They're frustrated each time insurance companies deny their patients life-saving procedures, and when patients struggle to afford medications while drug industry CEOs get million-dollar raises. (8/13)

So that's why, even when faced with financial threats, so many physicians across Colorado and Nevada dug in their heels. They knew that expanding access to affordable care was the best way to help their patients, and the right thing to do as their doctors. (9/13)

These physician-advocates bravely met with their legislators, wrote testimony to submit, penned op-eds and letters to the editor, filmed ads, and spoke up in press events about the need to make health care and prescription drugs more affordable for their patients. (10/13)

And, as you know, their courageous efforts paid off! Their actions helped spur the movement spreading across the country toward public health care options and Rx drug affordability boards. These advocates inspire me, and they should inspire you too. (11/13)

So let's keep this momentum going! If you're a doctor or medical professional interested in passing a public option or Rx affordability board in your state, get involved with us. We'll give you the tools you need to push back on industry and stand up for patients. (12/13)

Follow us at @cmteetoprotect and learn more at committeetoprotect.org.

In the meantime, thank you to the brave doctors in NV & CO for your leadership! (/END)