Laura Packard | |
---|---|
Born | May 23, 1976 |
Education | University of Michigan ( BS, Computer Science) |
Occupation | Health care activist |
Known for | Health Care Voices, Health Care Voter |
Website |
healthcarevoices |
Laura Packard (born May 23, 1976) is an American health care activist [1] and political commentator. She is the founder of Health Care Voices, [2] a non-profit grassroots organization for adults with serious medical conditions. She is executive director of the group Health Care Voter, [3] with actress Alyssa Milano, singer T-Boz, politicians Donna Edwards and Anton Gunn, activists Ady Barkan and Brad Woodhouse, and others as co-chairs. [4] Packard is also executive director of Get America Covered, a group that promotes increased health coverage. [5] She hosts a weekly call-in television show for Americans with health care and health insurance questions on act.tv, Care Talk. [6]
Packard was a featured speaker at the 2020 Democratic National Convention with Joe Biden. [7] [8]
A self-employed small business owner, [9] she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2017. [10] Believing that the Affordable Care Act saved her life [11] and that without it she would be bankrupt or dead without the care she received through her insurance, [12] she became an outspoken critic of repeal attempts. Her sharp questioning led United States Senator Dean Heller to eject her from a public event, [13] and her criticism of President Donald Trump resulted in him blocking her on Twitter. [14] A 2018 lawsuit, Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump, forced President Donald Trump to reinstate her access to his social media accounts, along with that of 40 others. [15]
Packard spoke on five national bus tours with progressive health care advocacy organization Protect Our Care in 2018, [16] 2019, [17] 2021, [18] 2022, [19] and 2023. [20], and a national bus tour with advocacy organization Courage for America on the debt ceiling crisis in 2023. [21]
Moving to Denver, Colorado in 2019, her political advocacy broadened to include challenges to United States Senator Cory Gardner’s community engagement, and she went on a statewide bus tour with “Cardboard Cory” to accentuate his purported inaccessibility. [22] She also challenged United States Representative Lauren Boebert's health care record. [23] and was blocked by Boebert on Twitter [24] in February 2022.
In 2018, Packard was noted for her outspoken opposition to the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. [25] She was included again in media coverage for her 2020 opposition to the nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. [26]
Laura Packard | |
---|---|
Born | May 23, 1976 |
Education | University of Michigan ( BS, Computer Science) |
Occupation | Health care activist |
Known for | Health Care Voices, Health Care Voter |
Website |
healthcarevoices |
Laura Packard (born May 23, 1976) is an American health care activist [1] and political commentator. She is the founder of Health Care Voices, [2] a non-profit grassroots organization for adults with serious medical conditions. She is executive director of the group Health Care Voter, [3] with actress Alyssa Milano, singer T-Boz, politicians Donna Edwards and Anton Gunn, activists Ady Barkan and Brad Woodhouse, and others as co-chairs. [4] Packard is also executive director of Get America Covered, a group that promotes increased health coverage. [5] She hosts a weekly call-in television show for Americans with health care and health insurance questions on act.tv, Care Talk. [6]
Packard was a featured speaker at the 2020 Democratic National Convention with Joe Biden. [7] [8]
A self-employed small business owner, [9] she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2017. [10] Believing that the Affordable Care Act saved her life [11] and that without it she would be bankrupt or dead without the care she received through her insurance, [12] she became an outspoken critic of repeal attempts. Her sharp questioning led United States Senator Dean Heller to eject her from a public event, [13] and her criticism of President Donald Trump resulted in him blocking her on Twitter. [14] A 2018 lawsuit, Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump, forced President Donald Trump to reinstate her access to his social media accounts, along with that of 40 others. [15]
Packard spoke on five national bus tours with progressive health care advocacy organization Protect Our Care in 2018, [16] 2019, [17] 2021, [18] 2022, [19] and 2023. [20], and a national bus tour with advocacy organization Courage for America on the debt ceiling crisis in 2023. [21]
Moving to Denver, Colorado in 2019, her political advocacy broadened to include challenges to United States Senator Cory Gardner’s community engagement, and she went on a statewide bus tour with “Cardboard Cory” to accentuate his purported inaccessibility. [22] She also challenged United States Representative Lauren Boebert's health care record. [23] and was blocked by Boebert on Twitter [24] in February 2022.
In 2018, Packard was noted for her outspoken opposition to the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. [25] She was included again in media coverage for her 2020 opposition to the nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett. [26]