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As members of the largest bloc of uninsured Americans, Young Democrats believe quality, affordable Health Care to be a fundamental human right. In our communities and alongside friends, family, coworkers, classmates and neighbors, we will fight to enact farsighted health care reform.

The YDA Ensure You’re Insured Youth Organizing Kit will help you and your Young Democrats chapter organize in support of the health care reform we need.

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Health insurance hasn’t always been the sexiest issue for young Americans, but as the Millennial generation enters the work force (or tries to) we are realizing just how important it is.

President Obama’s plan for health insurance reform will have an immediate positive impact for young Americans.

• Lowers costs by putting a cap on what insurance companies can force you to pay in out of pocket expenses, co-pays and deductibles. It also eliminates yearly and life-time limits on how much insurance companies cover if you get sick. A car accident or cancer diagnosis shouldn’t force you to live your entire life in debt.
• Special young adult policies that will be offered by private insurance plans and a competitive public option. You will have increased choices and increased competition that holds private insurance companies accountable.
• Millennials frequently changes jobs, move, or hold part-time or temporary jobs. Under reform, it doesn’t matter – you will always have choices of quality, affordable health insurance.
• Health insurance reform will allow you to stay on your parents’ health care plans until you’re 26. This will help to cover the one in three young adults who are uninsured.
• Young Americans are just starting out in their jobs and careers, and they often don’t have access to job-based coverage. Even when they do, they often don’t have the money to spend on expensive health insurance. Health care reform will offer health insurance to those without job-based coverage and provide premium assistance to those who still can’t afford it.

We must continue our effort to bring real health care reform. Stand with President Obama and voice your support.

Photo by seiuhealthcare775nw

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Below is the report on the YDA Communications Survey I sent out last month. Thank you to everyone who completed it.

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The Republican Party may be in shambles, but conservative interest groups are still dominating progressives when it comes to issue advocacy. A big part of the problem is procrastination: most progressive organizations rely solely on last minute activism.

Conservatives have been so successful in their issue advocacy efforts because they begin the process way before there is a bill being considered or an important vote. They start persuasion programs far in advance; framing the debate, saturating the media, and activating local conservative networks.

Progressives have not been as successful because we tend to wait until a vote to begin organizing. Now, there are some exceptions; organized labor has been much better at getting a head of issues than the rest of the progressive movement, but for the most part our activism is last minute.

Many progressive organizations didn’t learn the lessons of the 1990s. They believed that passing progressive legislation would be a cakewalk with Democrats in control of the White House, a huge majority in the House and 60 votes in the Senate. The current struggle for health insurance reform shows how wrong they were.

A politician isn’t going to always do the right thing just because there is a (D) next to his or her name. Democrats often have to be pressured as much as the Republicans. In the future we must remember that as long as we rely solely on last minute activism, we are going to keep losing battles.

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A new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that mobile internet is closing the digital divide between whites and minority Americans.

African Americans are the most active users of the mobile internet – and their use of it is also growing the fastest. This means the digital divide between African Americans and white Americans diminishes when mobile use is taken into account.

• By a 59% to 45% margin, white Americans are more likely to go online using a computer on a typical day than African Americans.
• When mobile devices are included in the mix, the gap is cut in half; 61% of whites go online on the average day when mobile access is included while 54% of African Americans do.
• Looking across a range of digital activities – some done online typically using a computer and others being non-voice data activities on a mobile device – African American and white Americans, on average, do the same number of activities.

The rising number of relatively affordable internet-capable cell phones, cheap netbook computers, and falling laptop prices seem to have boosted the adoption rate of wireless internet. The trending indicates that the saturation of internet-capable mobile devices will continue to rise dramatically in the next few years.

The report also provides data on wireless usage by the 18-29 demographic:

The 18-29 demographic is still unsurprisingly ahead of the curve when it comes to mobile internet adoption.

The 48-page report has a ton of information in it and is definitely worth checking out.

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