Rap Stars Release PSA To Call Out Elected Officials on Healthcare Transparency
Tags: Celebrities, Celebrity News, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Method Man, French Montana
Written By: Biba Adams
EDITED BY: Dustin Seibert
Today's Code: 9et4hj
Several of hip-hop's elite artists partnered with nonprofit Power to the Patients to call for transparency in health care.
The public service announcement sees Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, French Montana and Chuck D advocating for stronger and more meaningful price transparency laws to force hospitals and insurance companies around the country to post actual prices for their services and procedures.
"For 50 years now, hip-hop has been a reflection of culture and society that includes stories of struggle and pain," the rappers say in the PSA.
Public Enemy frontman Chuck D calls the healthcare situation “an American humanitarian crisis," according to a press release shared with BET.com.
The artists call out hospitals and insurance companies that solely provide “estimates” or “average prices” instead of actual prices. The hip-hop icons describe the issue as the “stifling of competition, overcharges, fear, debt and devastation all over the country.”
Fat Joe has long advocated for healthcare transparency, including multiple visits to The White House and meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to express concerns and frustration with the healthcare system.
Earlier this year, Fat Joe and Power To The Patients joined healthcare transparency efforts by city council members and various union groups in New York City, culminating in Mayor Eric Adams signing the Healthcare Accountability and Consumer Protection Act in June 2023.
The act established the nation’s first Office of Health Care Accountability, allowing New Yorkers to compare costs charged by hospitals for the same services.
The PSA with the six iconic rappers comes on the heels of Hip-Hop recently celebrating its 50th anniversary. Several also appeared in a recent series discussing physical and mental health for Men's Health magazine.
In the Power to the Patients PSA, the rappers note that “hospitals force patients to sign contracts for services without ever showing us actual prices,” which is “creating so much fear that millions and millions of Americans refuse to enter a hospital, putting our health and our lives at stake.”
Watch the PSA below:
