The objective of my arpillera is to raise awareness of the fact that universal healthcare, which has existed in some form since 1912 in many countries, still does not exist in the United States. Why is this important right now, in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic? Because our present health crisis has revealed that employer-sponsored healthcare is not enough protection for citizens. Employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees are required to provide health coverage to full-time workers or else pay a tax penalty. Some play with the numbers to avoid this responsibility. As of November 2020, when this statement was written, more than 10 million Americans had lost their jobs due to Covid-19. Some had no choice but to work several part-time jobs in order to make a decent living. Most part-time jobs, as many of us have experienced, do not provide the benefit of healthcare insurance. Moreover, we know that many frontline, low-wage breadwinners have contracted the Covid-19 virus at work.

This is an urgent issue. In the United States, Covid-19 has unveiled persisting inequities that lie tightly interconnected in our society. The statistics are shattering: 51% of Americans' debt is medical. How much higher will this debt be after the pandemic? What can we do to stop financial hardship due to an accumulation of exorbitant medical expenses that nobody had planned for? If we get Covid-19, we cannot work, and if we are at the hospital for an extended period of time and lose our job, who will pay our astronomical medical bills?

I connect with my artwork in a special way. After living in three different countries that offer universal healthcare to their citizens as a right (Belgium, England, Canada), I have experienced the peace of mind that this brings to a family. Knowing that, regardless of the hardships that we may suddenly be forced to experience (unemployment, severe illness, a natural disaster, an accident), universal healthcare ensures that we have access to quality health services when we need them the most, and without the danger of incurring serious debt. Why is this impossible in the United States? Why is the same medication so expensive here and yet very affordable in Belgium or Canada? The safety net that universal healthcare brings to citizens is worth the amount of taxes that they are asked to pay for it.

I have sewn a stethoscope into my arpillera. After debating, I decided to grant it a plain decorative function in my piece. Originally, I had planned to sew beneath the stethoscope a heart to listen to. However, as I kept on sewing and thinking, I changed my mind. When a sick patient does not have proper access to a doctor for financial reasons, the stethoscope changes its function. As it no longer listens to our heartbeat and breath, it becomes an ornament, a jewelry piece adorning a neck. That is why the word COMPASSION, one of our school’s guiding principles, is written at the base of my arpillera. Its most prominent color is bright red, the hue of blood, a life element that unites the human family, regardless of the skin color of its diverse members. I have sewn a piece of cloth that reproduces the shape of a pair of lungs. It is my way of remembering those who have lost their lives because they could not breathe, either because of the violence of systemic racism or Covid-19. I have used traditional gauze and medical tape to create small signs to suggest that universal healthcare can heal the deepest wounds in our fragmented, for-profit healthcare system. GoFundMe fundraisers are not the solution; they may actually perpetuate the problem. Did you know that, in 2019, one third of that website's donations went to cover people's medical costs?

I have added several patches of fabric with a floral pattern to my arpillera. Part of me remains hopeful about the possibility of "healthcare for all" becoming a reality at this time of unprecedented human loss. I count on the consolation of spring after this, the darkest of all of my Vermont winters. Those flowers represent what this state has continuously displayed for us these past months: its exceptional beauty. The slowing of our busy lives has given both the earth and its wildlife a chance to recover some of their natural rhythms. The virus has reduced the pollution affecting our lungs on a daily basis.

My work can be read in connection with arpillera #10, which raises awareness about racial issues that have a direct impact on health equity. It also connects with arpillera # 2 about gender identity, because sexuality plays an important role in our social, mental, and physical well-being. My piece is also related to arpillera #1, evoking the social isolation and restrictions that Covid-19 has forced upon our lives since March 2020. This is a good time to remember that access to quality universal healthcare without the burden of financial stress is not a dream but a possibility. Other countries have led the way. We can learn from all of them. For more than a century, they have understood that the right to healthcare is a basic human right.