Nancy Tongue: Advocate for RPCV Healthcare

The National Peace Corps Association named RPCV Nancy Tongue their Featured Advocate for the month of September for her work with RPCVs with health needs.  Here's a snippet from the article:

Nancy says unfortunately, there are volunteers who continue to return home seriously sick and injured who still face issues of being unable to get the care they need, obtain general health insurance, or struggle to live on the disability income that the Peace Corps “pay scale” qualifies them for.

These concerns led her to form Health Justice for PeaceCorps Volunteers in March 2012, a growing group of advocates whose stated mission is “to ensure that Peace Corps Volunteers who become sick and injured due to their overseas service obtain the support and benefits to which they are legally entitled.” It also provides a built-in support group for one another. The group is now launching a survey which all RPCVs are encouraged to take, in an effort to better assess the depth and scope of the problems.

 

RPCV Nancy Tongue 

You can read the entire NPCA article or help with the Health Justice for Peace Corps Volunteers' survey about medical  issues during Peace Corps.

Nancy, founder and director of HJPCV, says:

Health Justice for Peace Corps Volunteers is an organization formed in 2012 dedicated to seeking increased medical and disability support from both the Peace Corps and the US Department of Labor (USDOL) for returned (or current) sick or injured Peace Corps Volunteers whose illnesses or injuries occurred during Peace Corps service. As the Peace Corps expands, it must also protect those of us who have served. We are working in conjunction with the National Peace Corps Association to gather information to help make the necessary changes at the federal level. Take the survey about your experiences with Peace Corps medical, USDOL, etc.

We are looking to hear from BOTH RPCVs who were injured or became sick because of their service as well as Volunteers who had NO trouble. Please help us to better the system by contributing to our survey! Also, we would appreciate it if you would pass on the survey link to other RPCVs or to NPCA groups. Thanks!