About
Missouri Health Care for All
How we plan to achieve our vision, and the people making it happen.
Our Vision
We want to live in a world in which every person has access to affordable, high-quality, affirming, and responsive health care, no matter where they live or how much money they make.
Specifically, we want to create a system of universal health care that provides comprehensive, holistic, and high-quality care.
That care must be equitable in that social identities do not determine the quality of care. We believe that this world we envision will provide everyone with more opportunities to thrive socially, economically, and emotionally. There will be more space and time for joy, understanding, and meaningful engagement with family and community. Achieving this vision will improve health outcomes, increase personal freedom, reduce health and wealth disparities, and raise the quality of life for all of us.
Our Mission
Missouri Health Care for All is bringing together a community of passionate activists in our state to advocate for equitable health policies in Missouri, and to advance the broader movement for universal, single-payer health care in the United States.
Pillars for a New
Health Care System
1
Everyone in the country should be automatically covered under the same health care system. This includes elected officials.
2
Everyone should have the personal freedom to control their health care decisions and seek care from any health care provider.
3
All health care should be free at the point of service, and there will be no out-of-pocket costs for care after treatment. This includes all health care services, prescription drugs, and medical devices.
4
Our health care system should eliminate profit and be funded through any equitable publicly financed model.
5
All health care services and products must be covered. This includes, but is not limited to, provider visits; hospital care; prescription drugs; reproductive health services; medical equipment; vision; dental; hearing; mental health; services for people with disabilities; in-home care; substance use treatment; physical, occupational and speech therapy; and emergency and non-emergency transportation.
6
Our health care system should focus on public health, which emphasizes disease prevention, primary and preventive care, health education, and community health.
7
Our health care system should be intentionally designed to meet the needs of all communities across the country, as part of a national strategy to eradicate health disparities based on race, color, income, geography, immigration status, religion, age, sex, gender, sexual identity, or disability status.
Our History
Since 2007, our vision has been to build a movement that is big, strong, and diverse, to transform our health care system so that all people have access to quality health care.
We’ve grown to include organizations and individuals all across the state, and as we’ve grown, our programming and leadership have expanded in scope. We partner with multi-issue statewide organizations and health-focused local organizations to harness the power of people to work together and achieve our vision for Missouri, and for the nation.
Meet the Team
Nomachot Adiang
Nomachot Adiang immigrated from South Sudan to Missouri as a child and has found her home in Kansas City. She is passionate about building up and supporting her community, and you’ll likely catch her at any number of community events in her free time. No matter where you find her, expect that Nomachot’s nails will always be on point.
KJ McDonald
KJ McDonald resides on the border of Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas and is passionate about engaging with her community. She enjoys intellectual conversations about intersectional feminism, dismantling capitalism and white supremacy, and psychology. In her free time, she enjoys working in her garden with her dogs, playing Dungeons and Dragons, crafting, camping, or playing in a nearby body of water.
Dennis McDonald
Dennis is a lifelong Jefferson County resident dedicated to making sure everyone has health care. He was a storyteller for MHCFA while teaching without healthcare before joining the organization as a full time organizer. He spends way too much time playing videogames, or messing around with computers for fun. Dennis lived in the Medicaid gap for 10 years and believes it’s shameful that so many people were hurt by the lack of action on the part of our legislature.
Lesley Sexton
Lesley Sexton is a St. Louis County local and social worker by degree, but community development is where her heart is. She graduated from Missouri State in Springfield with her BSW and received her MSW from Washington University in St. Louis. Growing up volunteering in her family-run nonprofit chapter and without health insurance, she’s fiercely people-driven and deeply invested in the betterment of humanity. Her free time mostly consists of internet scrolling, occasionally writing or reading, entertaining her cats, and watching The Golden Girls reruns.
Board of Directors
Officers
Cheryl Unterschutz, President
Central Missouri Community Action, Columbia
Karen Bradshaw, Vice President
SSM Health, St. Louis
Julia López, Vice President
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Emma Crocker, Secretary
CHIPS Health and Wellness Center, St. Louis
Sarah Willey, Treasurer
Sarah Willey, LLC
At-Large Members
Lexi Amos
MO Jobs with Justice, Springfield
Rhonda Beene
United Health Group, Lee’s Summit
Patricia Clinton
Community Leader, Kansas City
Rebecca Goldstein
Medtronic, St. Louis
Shannel Reed
Community Leader, St. Louis
