As the child care crisis deepens, and Congress debates how to fix it, Jackie Thomas is pouring everything she can into her 24-hour business. If she gives up, if she's shut down, the mothers who depend on her will lose their jobs.
propublica.org/article/the-ch…
About 13% of daycares have shuttered during the pandemic. But the child care industry was collapsing beforehand --particularly the businesses that serve working class moms. Subsidies are too low to cover the costs.
For some of Jackie’s kids, the gov't pays just $7.70 a day.
Dec 16, 2020 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
1/ JaMarcus Crews waited for years to get a new kidney. He waited while...
Drs downplayed his kidney problems
A clinical algorithm lowered his chances bc he was Black @DaVita staff didn’t tell him he looked like a good candidate, when he was
He waited as the coronavirus came.
2/ JaMarcus’ kidneys had failed when he was only 30 years old. He’d been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes as a kid, and without money for health insurance, the condition had wrecked his kidneys.
Feb 12, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
1/ I’m spending the next year reporting on diabetes, and the consequences of out-of-reach care.
I don’t have diabetes. In order to do this right, I want to talk to the people who know the condition best.
This thread is to explain what I’m looking for.
2/ For the rest of you, here’s some context:
The price of insulin has tripled over the past decade, and even critical supplies like pumps are too pricey for many.
People are going into comas. In extreme circumstances, they’re dying after they ration insulin.
Oct 17, 2019 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
At the debate this week, @BernieSanders called our healthcare system “dysfunctional” and “cruel” — and he’s not wrong.
Case in point: yesterday, @ProPublica published my feature on patients whose medical debt ultimately lands them in jail.
I met a lot of people:
Crystal Dyke was jailed while pregnant bc she missed hearings for a $230 bill.
Derek Dustman spent 2 nights in jail after he couldn’t pay his ambulance bill.
Tres Biggs’ 6yo got cancer, and wife got Lyme. He was arrested 2x.
