mattlawyue
Currently in Tanzania, Africa doing media relations for the School of St Jude in Arusha.
Spent some time in public relations in NYC, and have written for SLAM Magazine, ESPN NewYork, the Boston Herald and BusinessWeek.
The College of New Jersey, '10.
The Hotel Workers Union, under the leadership of Peter Ward, has created a network of one-stop clinics where union members can receive any care they need, free of charge. By building a medical community, and providing their own insurance, the union has developed a system so efficient they can offer free coverage at 1/3 the cost of the average HMO.
You may think that sounds crazy. I think it’s crazy we’ve waited so long to try and replicate their success. So this year we’ll bring the Hotel Trades model to a group of New Yorkers that has a hard time affording health care – freelancers.
Independent workers like temps or copy editors now account for 30% of the workforce, and one in four make less than $25,000 a year. Through the leadership of Sara Horowitz, the Freelancers Union has created a growing community of over 93,000 members in the five boroughs. Working with Council Member Maria del Carmen Arroyo, we’re going to help the Freelancers launch a flagship clinic, to provide low cost care to any member who needs it. This kind of creative health care model has the power to connect more New Yorkers to primary care, take some of the burden off of struggling hospitals, and strengthen our non-profit healthcare system.
