Healthcare leaders are taking a stand in the approaching presidential election. Last week, more than two dozen Black and Latino healthcare technology leaders endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in an open letter. This follows a similar letter signed by more than 500 women healthcare leaders in support of Harris.
The former letter was organized by Abner Mason, founder and CEO of SameSkyHealth; Dr. Daniel Turner-Lloveras, co-founder and CEO of The Latino Health Innovation Alliance and SaludConTech; and Kevin Dedner, health-tech entrepreneur and author. In the letter, the leaders note that Harris has shown a “deep understanding of the structural barriers that communities of color face in healthcare.” They added that she has championed policies that expand digital health, support minority entrepreneurs and help community-driven solutions.
“As healthcare innovators, we’ve dedicated our lives to building health-improving, and sometimes life-saving innovations and therapies,” Mason told MedCity News in an email. “Without health insurance, these innovations would only benefit the wealthy. Trump continues to push to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), while refusing to offer a real alternative to the 45 million Americans who now get their health insurance as a result of the ACA. After a term as President, and four years since, Trump still has only ‘concepts of a plan’ for the millions who will lose their health insurance if he prevails. This is not only insufficient, it is disqualifying.”
Mason is referring to a comment that Trump made during the September presidential debate, in which he was asked if he has a plan for the ACA and said that he has “concepts of a plan.”
The letter among women healthcare leaders, meanwhile, was led by Missy Krasner, healthcare investor and board advisor; Miriam Paramore, health information technology expert; Lori Evans Bernstein, former CEO and founder of Caraway; Dr. Molly Coye, former board member of Aetna/American Hospital Association; Laurie McGraw, executive vice president of Transcarent; and Audrey Mann Cronin, advisor to healthcare CEOs. The group is called the Women Healthcare Leaders for Progress.
This group is focused on three areas within healthcare: reproductive rights, affordable health insurance and preserving Medicare and Medicaid.
“[We’ve] been around healthcare for a long time,” McGraw told MedCity News at the HLTH conference last week. “We know it’s complex. We know that when there is an opportunity for Medicaid expansion that people get better care, and we need confidence and competence in the White House. … We’ve all been in quite a bit of shell shock still from Roe v. Wade being turned back. … We can’t continue to go backward because it’s just unacceptable. So this was an effort to say it is too important to play it safe. We’re going to put our names out there.”
Leading up to the election, both groups are trying to educate voters. Mason said he’s reaching out to media outlets with large Black and Latino readerships, including Black Enterprise and People of Color in Tech. Krasner mentioned that the Women Healthcare Leaders for Progress is organizing in swing states and volunteering to drive voters and canvass. While the group isn’t focused on policy work, it is dedicated to spreading awareness.
Some healthcare players have also come out in support of Trump, particularly VCs, The Atlantic reported. For example, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz backed Trump, though Horowitz later announced a “significant donation” to support Harris, according to the Financial Times. There is also a group of VCs backing Harris.
Following the election, Mason said his group plans to meet with the new administration — which they hope will be a Harris administration — to share their perspective. The group’s policy priorities for the new administration include expanding digital access, implementing safeguards against algorithmic bias, investing in Medicaid and supporting minority entrepreneurs. Krasner said that if Trump is elected, the Women Healthcare Leaders for Progress will continue its advocacy work. If Harris is elected, however, “there’s enough of us that are already working in healthcare that are pretty tapped in” with the White House.
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