Noah Wyle Is Going to Washington to Fight for Healthcare Reform
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Noah Wyle may not hold a real medical degree, but the actor has heard story after story from fans and medical professionals who identified with The Pitt's celebrated portrayal of emergency work. As he told Esquire in April, 'it's people who are being strained to their breaking points day in and day out, unfairly in a job where we really need them to be healthy—because their health ultimately reflects on our health.'
So, Wyle is partnering with FIGS, the medical clothing company, to use the HBO Max show's popularity as a platform to improve the lives of healthcare workers in this country. This week, Wyle will head to Washington D.C. with a group of eighteen medical professionals to propose meaningful healthcare reform for an underappreciated workforce that desperately needs help.
'As part of this grassroots effort, we're urging lawmakers to act on three urgent, bipartisan issues that are making health care workers' jobs, and their lives, harder than they need to be: lack of mental health support, crushing administrative burden and financial strain,' Wyle wrote in an op-ed for USA TODAY on Tuesday. 'Our message is simple: Without a supported, protected and fairly treated workforce, there is no patient care.'
In the op-ed, Wyle shared stories he's heard from fans and medical professionals about 'staggering burnout,' a high risk of suicide, and the fear that seeking help from a mental health professional might jeopardize their medical license. As for the latter, comedian Nathan Fielder recently brought up a similar issue to Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen on HBO's The Rehearsal, citing pilots who were fearful to seek professional help in fear of losing their pilot's license.
'That's why one of our priorities is reauthorization and funding of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which includes federal mental health programs for health care workers as well as grants for peer support, training and institutional culture change, especially in rural and underserved areas,' Wyle wrote. Though the Protection Act was enacted in 2022 on a 'nearly unanimous bipartisan basis,' according to the actor, the bill lapsed in 2024 without congressional action to renew.
Wyle also plans to advocate for fewer prior authorization delays—which add unnecessary paperwork from insurance companies for 'permission to treat their patients'—as well as fair compensation for the 80-hour weeks that some healthcare workers face.
Kudos to Wyle for working so damn hard to make a difference. As comedian Nathan Fielder explored in The Rehearsal, it's difficult for actors and comedians to sit before Congress and advocate for issues they care about. Most of the time, their actions are dismissed—as if entertainers aren't also humans themselves. But as Esquire recently explored in our cover story with Bono, it's possible that former President George W. Bush would have never passed the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) without the U2 singer's continued advocacy.
'These aren't partisan issues,' Wyle wrote. 'They're practical ones. And they're urgent."
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