Fat Joe Preaches Importance of Healthcare to Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries
Fat Joe is sitting down with Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries for an episode of Fat Joe Talks. A trailer was released on Tuesday (Oct. 29), which finds the Terror Squad boss preaching the importance of healthcare to the politician.
“The health problem in America, like we’ve lost Frankie Beverly, Batman, Fat Man Scoop, Rich Homie Quan, rest in peace,” he said while citing recent musicians that have passed. “Freddie Jackson, the R&B singer, said he got kidney problems. You know, Black and Latino, man, we really got to take care of our health as much as possible.”
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Jeffries believes health-related issues stem from urban communities having a lack of access to healthier food options and premium healthcare, which can lead to diseases plaguing the community.
“We got to deal with the gun violence problem, but when you actually take a step back, there are more people dying from lack of access to healthy food, lack of access to healthcare, and then what that lack of access to a healthy diet then yields, in terms of diabetes, heart disease, respiratory illness, certain forms of cancer, and then without the access to the healthcare to deal with those chronic, debilitating conditions, you’ve got people passing away prematurely,” he stated.
Healthcare price transparency is a pertinent issue for Fat Joe as he’s continued to speak up in support of U.S. citizens while targeting the price gouging pharma companies. He previously pushed to help pass the Healthcare Accountability & Consumer Protection Act in New York.
Ahead of the 2024 election, as a spokesperson for Power to the Patients, Joe teamed up with unions and workers to launch a PSA calling on elected officials to stop the price gouging and “robbing all of us.”
“[I] also want to commend you for you know, your work in the healthcare space. Healthcare Transparency Act, incredibly important to getting us to a much better place,” Jeffries told Joe. “You have people getting access to the affordable and high quality healthcare that they need. I say often when I’m back home talking to folks about a variety of issues, that in urban America and Black and Latino communities, in particular in our communities, more people die from drive throughs than drive bys.”
The full Fat Joe Talks episode will premiere on Starz on Friday at midnight ET. Look for Babyface to appear on next week’s episode for an exclusive sit-down with The Bronx native in Los Angeles.
Watch the clip below.
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