July, 30 2020, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Mike Stankiewicz, mstankiewicz@citizen.org, (202) 588-7779
David Rosen, drosen@citizen.org, (202) 588-7742
Telepresser Today: How the For-Profit Health Care System Failed Coronavirus Patients, Physicians, People of Color
On Medicare’s 55th Anniversary, Congresswoman, Patients, Physicians, Business Leaders Share Their Stories and Call For Medicare for All
WASHINGTON
WHAT: U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) will lead an all-female telepresser at 11 a.m. EDT marking the 55th anniversary of Medicare, where coronavirus patients, frontline workers, physicians, business and union leaders who've been harmed by the current for-profit health care system will share their personal stories.
Medicare's implementation 55 years ago provided a lifeline to Americans over 65 and was intended as a down payment to eventually provide guaranteed health care for all. The pandemic has shined a light on just how critical that need is and how the current profit-driven system fails to protect public health, exacerbates insurance loss at the worst possible time and causes racial disparities in health care.
Speakers include Dr. Anna Stratis, who worked in Brooklyn, N.Y. during the height of the pandemic and saw the tragic consequences of uninsurance; Jen Kimmich, a small-business owner who struggled to provide health insurance to employees and had to lay off employees due to the economic downturn; and Dr. Susan Rogers, who will speak about how the for-profit system has disproportionately affected people of color - especially during the pandemic.
WHEN: 11 a.m. EDT, Thursday, July 30
WHO: U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)
Ada Briceno, Co-President of UNITEHERE Local 11, California
Dr. Anna Stratis, frontline doctor in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Dr. Susan Rogers, president-elect, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), retired Chicago-based doctor
Sydney Studer, coronavirus patient
Lori Trojan, lost insurance during pandemic
Jen Kimmich, co-founder, Alchemist Brewery in Stowe, Vt.
CALL: 800-875-3456; passcode: MEDICARE55TH
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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