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CONTACT: Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) Laura Bonham Communications Coordinator Laura@pdamerica.org, (435) 336-2123 Tim Carpenter, PDA Executive Director Tim@pdamerica.org, (413)-320-2015 |
PDA, Allied Groups Launch Joint Effort for Single-Payer Healthcare
WASHINGTON - January 26 - Fired up by a successful Inaugural Week grassroots summit, Progressive Democrats of America is joining with allies from labor, healthcare and the faith community to launch a joint effort for passage of HR 676, single-payer healthcare for all Americans, in this congressional session.
PDA, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, Healthcare NOW!, Physicians for a National Health Program, the All Unions Committee for Single Payer H.R. 676 and the California School Employee Association will launch the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care at a press conference Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 10:30 a.m. in 2226 Rayburn House Office Building.
"We had a series of very inspiring and energizing meetings and events leading up to the inauguration," said PDA Executive Director Tim Carpenter. "We're now channeling that excitement into action to stimulate the economy by removing the huge drag on business that is the current healthcare system, and replacing it with a system that guarantees healthcare to all Americans while containing costs. It is the single most important step the new administration and Congress can take to provide a stimulus to employers and financial relief to families across all income levels."
Said Danielle Alexander of Physicians for a National Health Program: "With 46 million uninsured Americans, 22,000 deaths a year due to lack of health insurance, and over half of personal bankruptcies caused by medical debt, it is clear that healthcare reform should remain central within an economic recovery package."
Following the press conference, the Leadership Conference will hold a luncheon briefing for members of Congress and their staffs, to begin at noon in 2237 Rayburn HOB. The briefing on "Economic Solutions through Healthcare Reform" will be moderated by Geri Jenkins, RN, of the California Nurses Association Council of Presidents. Speakers will include: Walter Tsou, MD, MPH, former Health Commissioner of Philadelphia and national board advisor of Physicians for a National Health Program; Don DeMoro, co-author of "Single Payer/ Medicare for All: An Economic Stimulus Plan for the Nation," from the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy; and Ronald Hikel, former deputy minister of health of Manitoba, co-chair of the Council of Deputy Ministers of Health, and legislative director for Rep. Eric Massa.
PDA, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, Healthcare NOW!, Physicians for a National Health Program, the All Unions Committee for Single Payer H.R. 676 and the California School Employee Association will launch the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care at a press conference Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 10:30 a.m. in 2226 Rayburn House Office Building.
"We had a series of very inspiring and energizing meetings and events leading up to the inauguration," said PDA Executive Director Tim Carpenter. "We're now channeling that excitement into action to stimulate the economy by removing the huge drag on business that is the current healthcare system, and replacing it with a system that guarantees healthcare to all Americans while containing costs. It is the single most important step the new administration and Congress can take to provide a stimulus to employers and financial relief to families across all income levels."
Said Danielle Alexander of Physicians for a National Health Program: "With 46 million uninsured Americans, 22,000 deaths a year due to lack of health insurance, and over half of personal bankruptcies caused by medical debt, it is clear that healthcare reform should remain central within an economic recovery package."
Following the press conference, the Leadership Conference will hold a luncheon briefing for members of Congress and their staffs, to begin at noon in 2237 Rayburn HOB. The briefing on "Economic Solutions through Healthcare Reform" will be moderated by Geri Jenkins, RN, of the California Nurses Association Council of Presidents. Speakers will include: Walter Tsou, MD, MPH, former Health Commissioner of Philadelphia and national board advisor of Physicians for a National Health Program; Don DeMoro, co-author of "Single Payer/ Medicare for All: An Economic Stimulus Plan for the Nation," from the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy; and Ronald Hikel, former deputy minister of health of Manitoba, co-chair of the Council of Deputy Ministers of Health, and legislative director for Rep. Eric Massa.
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4 Comments so far
Show AllSenator Chris Dodd, who has mortgages from Fannie and Freddie, told us this
past Sunday, the following about One payer health care.."It will never happen"
he says. Dodd's allegiance is to the Finance Industry, not the voters of Conn.
Dodd's attitude with the common man does not exist, he should really be a
Republican..
Any politician who wants the people bankrupted or prematurely dead because of our expensive, inept system should be removed from office in the next election.
Sick people denied care must flood the offices of all levels of politicians. How many elderly, sick and children will they forcibly evict from their offices?
James A. Swanson, Los Altos, CA
www.bushleagueofnations.com [for FREE download of entire book]
I support single-payer universal health care, but it appears Congress won’t have the backbone to provide more than half a loaf.
Truly progressive reform must meet the following two principles:
1. America needs universal health care—not health insurance companies.
2. American employers, both large and small, must be removed from the health care business, which will make them more competitive globally.
What follows are excerpts from my new book, "The Bush League of Nations," which you can download for free at www.bushleagueofnations.com.
The United States is the only nation among the top 25 industrialized nations that does not provide health coverage for all its citizens. At the same time, America spends much more per capita on health care costs, almost 2.4 times the average of other industrialized nations ($5,267 per capita annually, versus $2,193.)
America’s health care system is wasteful precisely because it is private. It is a private con game run by and for huge corporate interests.
The privately milked health care system is structured to provide maximum returns for shareholders and wealthy industry executives who are not caregivers, while denying and delaying coverage, and passing around like “hot potatoes” those individuals most needing medical care.
As a result, America spends more than $1,000 annually per capita—almost $400 billion annually—on administration and paperwork, while Canada, for example, spends less than one-third this amount on a per capita basis.
America’s private health insurance companies spend billions each year on advertising and gaming the system. Patients and the actual caregivers—doctors, nurses and other staff—are forced to waste enormous time and money coping with the bureaucratic obstacles and paperwork of hundreds of different billing and reimbursement systems.
Health insurance companies enjoy record profits, and their CEOs and other senior executives pocket exorbitant compensation.
William McGuire, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, received compensation totaling $124.8 million in 2005. Critics noted that his compensation of $124.8 million in 2005 could cover the total cost of medical care for an entire year for more than 33,000 average Americans.
McGuire retired under pressure in October 2006 due to a pay and stock options scandal affecting UnitedHealth. An investigation determined that McGuire’s options to purchase 1.5 million shares had probably been “backdated” to increase their value. His stock option package has been reported to be worth $1.6 billion (imagine 1,600 piles of $1 million each.)
This is many thousands of times what is paid to the most highly compensated executive in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which is run more efficiently than America’s private health care system.
The additional reported amount of $1.6 billion in stock options for McGuire could have paid the total cost of medical care for an entire year for 422,400 Americans.
It has been the kiss of death for any political leader to push progressive reform because the corporate and political forces on the right kill the messenger and sidetrack any serious policy debate on the merits.
This is why reform proposals proposed by congressional leaders keep insurance companies in the business of screwing America.
Jim Swanson, Los Altos, CA
“The Bush League of Nations”
www.bushleagueofnations.com [for FREE download of entire book]
It is time for the American people to vote on a National Healthcare Plan for all. HR676 Healthcare for all. contact your congress person, tell them you want it on a National Ballot, town by town, state by state, all 50 states to vote on healthcare for all. Insist on it. Congress has healthcare for ALL. so should the American people.So should our military and their families.We spend more on defense than all the countries put together. it is time for this to stop.