“In the Olympic Village in Paris, everyone has free healthcare as a human right. In America, 1 in 4 cancer patients go bankrupt or lose their homes because of the outrageously high cost of care.”
By Edward Carver, original appeared as “US Medalist’s Experience of Free Healthcare in Olympic Village Bolsters Case for Medicare for All” in Common Dreams and appears in ECM with this license print truncated.
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August 10, 2024 (Paris) — U.S. Olympic rugby player Ariana Ramsey became a sensation on social media this week after documenting a series of free healthcare visits in the Olympic Village in Paris and becoming an advocate for universal care in her home country.
Ramsey’s initial TikTok video, published Saturday, went viral in France after she expressed disbelief about the free healthcare on offer, playing into the European idea that Americans—who live in the only high-income country in the world without universal care—don’t know what they are missing.
Read the full article with clickable links and embedded videos in Common Dreams.
“I literally just got a pap smear—for free,” Ramsey, who won a bronze medal last week, said. “And I have a dentist appointment, and an eye exam next week. Like, what!?”
The Olympic Village polyclinic offers cardiology, orthopedics, physiotherapy, psychology, podiatry and sports medicine—all free of charge to athletes, according toSports Illustrated. The tradition of free healthcare for athletes dates back nearly a century.Ramsey, a 24-year-old from Pennsylvania who played rugby at Dartmouth College, said in a video that “there’s no reason why me, an American girl, should be so amazed by free healthcare.”
In a separate post on Monday, recording while sitting in a dentist’s chair, Ramsey said, “This is going to be my new fight for action, free healthcare in America. Period.”
She now describes herself as a “universal free healthcare advocate” in her TikTok bio.
As seen in East County Magazine Sports and East County Magazine Health/Fitness