WASHINGTON - March 5 - The White House has reversed itself and extended invitations for two single payer supporters to attend Thursday’s Healthcare Summit.

Congressman John Conyers, author of HR 676 single payer legislation in the House, and Dr. Oliver Fine, who currently heads Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), received invitations on Wednesday.

Single payer advocates should take heart and great pride in their role in reversing what had been a refusal to invite any single payer advocates to the Summit. The White House was inundated with phone calls, faxes and emails all urging that the invitations be extended.

A great big thank you is extended to all those who posted, distributed and otherwise spread the word and, to many, many more who actually took the time to contact the White House to object to the exclusion of single payer advocates.

This small victory should give us all hope. It should also send word to any and all who seek to keep single payer “off the table” that single payer advocates must be heard in all the committees and subcommittees of the House and Senate which will be considering healthcare reform legislation.

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HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system by expanding a greatly improved Medicare system to everyone residing in the U. S.

HR 676 would cover every person for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision care, hearing services including hearing aids, chiropractic, durable medical equipment, palliative care, and long term care.

HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 would save hundreds of billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and HMOs.

In the current Congress, HR 676 has 62 co-sponsors in addition to Conyers.

HR 676 has been endorsed by 485 union organizations in 49 states including 120 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 39 state AFL-CIO's (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC, MO, MN, ME, AR, MD-DC, TX, IA, AZ, TN, OR, GA, OK, KS, CO, IN, AL, CA, AK, MI, MT, NE, NY, NV & MA).

For further information, a list of union endorsers, or a sample endorsement resolution, contact:

Kay Tillow
All Unions Committee For Single Payer Health Care--HR 676
c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551
Email: nursenpo@aol.com
http://unionsforsinglepayerHR676.org 03/04/09