Magdalena Blaise ’22

Healthcare-NOW, Boston, MA

At the Healthcare-NOW office in Boston, I worked with two other interns and my two supervisors. During the first couple weeks on the job, we went through a series of trainings that would familiarize us with our current healthcare system, introduce us to the single-payer healthcare system, and ingrain in us the power of story-telling. Before the internship I had no idea what a single-payer healthcare system was, or that in the U.S. we have a multi-payer system. The training was very informative. The purpose of the story-telling training was to teach us the structure of a good story and show us how in the context of the organization, when people are able to talk about a horrible healthcare experience in a well-structured, heartfelt story, it impacts the general people, the press, senators, and members of Congress that much more.

After the training, I was tasked with compiling legal research from European countries with universal healthcare, and more specifically, a single-payer healthcare system. I used spreadsheets to organize a variety of data such as where countries with universal healthcare get their funding from, whether pharmacy mark-ups were regulated or not, and if countries had maximums on out-of-pocket payments. I also worked on a Racial Equity and Medicare for All online training project that centered on the history of structural racism and unconscious bias. This took weeks of research on racist policies made by U.S. officials that have affected and continue to affect black people as well as research on unconscious biases. I was given smaller tasks throughout my time there including transcribing videos for the organization’s YouTube channel and conducting healthcare surveys.

One thing I particularly enjoyed during my time at Healthcare-NOW was attending a Medicare for All State House hearing held by the Health Care Financing Committee. Senators and members of Congress; as well as influencers from around the state such as teachers, business owners, med-school students; and other people who have been negatively impacted by the healthcare system, all gathered in front of the committee to give their testimony and push for change in Massachusetts. It was really inspiring to hear from all different kinds of people; it made me realize that potentially anyone and everyone can be negatively affected by our healthcare system, and that collaboration is key for social and political movements to progress.

This internship at Healthcare-NOW was very important to me in a few different ways. I definitely know now that I want to be involved with health policy as a career. During my time there, I heard many horrific and heartbreaking stories from people who have been personally affected or have had family and friends affected by a broken healthcare system. These were motivating factors to want to be a part of the movement to gain universal healthcare. I also learned so much more about structural racism through my research. I knew a lot about structural racism before; however I learned that racism has caused black people to have a higher risk of heart disease, and that black women are 243% more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white women. These are the things that make me want to work more for universal healthcare.

Although I don’t intend on working in the non-profit sector, I learned a lot about how non-profits work and grassroots organizing. By targeting certain people or organizations, you can give them pressure or incentive to support the cause. Grassroots organizing was something I had never heard of, though I found to be a huge part of winning movements. It was also very interesting to watch the Democratic candidates debate on the topic of Medicare for All in July and that the way the questions were framed were very misleading. It would seem as if by abolishing private healthcare, people would be left without healthcare. However, this is not the case. Instead, everyone would have access to public healthcare.

My internship was really helpful in opening my eyes about the healthcare crisis. The cost of healthcare is progressively and massively increasing while millions of people in the United States are still unable to receive proper care because of costs and accessibility. Our current healthcare system is not sustainable, which is why it is crucial to start looking for different options.

I am so grateful that I was able to have an amazing opportunity like this one over the summer and I would thank the ’68 Center for Career Exploration and the Kraft Family for making this possible. I will definitely take everything I learned at Healthcare-NOW back to Williams and use the skills and knowledge I gained for the rest of my life.