Hip-hop stars unite to demand hospital pricing transparencyCan you recall knowing ahead of time how much you would have to pay out-of-pocket for a hospital procedure? Likely not, because hospitals don't usually discuss out-of-pocket expenses with patients before procedures.
This lack of transparency often leaves patients in the dark about how much a procedure will cost them until they get a bill in the mail months later, writes award-winning reporter James Causey for Black Voice News. Causey calls attention to a federal rule issued in 2021, which mandated that hospitals around the country make available to the public a list of standard charges for items and services offered at their facilities. Two years later, analysis published by the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that only 19% of hospitals had fully complied with the mandate.Hospital pricing transparency is an issue that impacts everyone, especially older Black and Latino patients who are more likely to incur medical debt than their white counterparts. Black Voice News reports that a series of current and forthcoming PSAs from hip-hop legends, including Chuck D, Method Man, Busta Rhymes and others, who have teamed up with a nonprofit urging elected officials, healthcare executives and insurance companies to inform patients of out-of-pocket hospital expenses, might galvanize people from different walks of life to unite for this cause.
Plus: This program is reimagining mental healthcare when folks face crisis (PushBlack)
Calif.’s Amah Mutsun Tribal Band fights to preserve sacred landSan Francisco Bay Area's Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is fighting to protect their sacred land from being exploited for profit. Specifically, they are fighting to prevent their land from being turned into a 403-acre open pit sand and gravel mining project, reports Prism. Since the tribe has held ceremonies on this land for centuries, much is at stake. “It would be a continuation of the brutal history and destruction of Amah Mutsun culture, spirituality, the environment, and people,” said Valentin Lopez, current chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. According to the tribe's website, the Amah Mutsun Tribe occupied the San Juan Valley for thousands of years before the Spanish arrived in the late 1700s. Losing this sacred land would destroy dozens of acres of live oak woodland and threaten many species' natural habitat.
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What is ‘weaponized incompetence’ and how do we deal with it?Increasingly, people are becoming more aware of a phenomenon called weaponized incompetence at home and work. It's where someone pretends to be incompetent at a task to avoid responsibility for doing it. Weaponized incompetence might look different depending on where you experience it. For instance, in a professional setting, it might look like a co-worker saying they aren't good enough at using a specific tool, leaving you to finish the project on your own. At home or in the community, it can be a partner who claims not to know how to do something, leaving you with another chore or task to check off your to-do list. Luz Media writes that weaponized incompetence can contribute to the unequal distribution of responsibilities and play a role in maintaining traditional gender roles in Latine cultures such as machismo and marianismo. It can also perpetuate harmful stereotypes that some tasks are inherently 'too difficult' for certain individuals to do, based on their gender, ethnicity or age.
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