DelMontPDA joined with MainLine Peace Action (suburban Philadelphia, PA) to sponsor an OFA meeting on June 6 and subsequently a HealthCare Service Event on June 27. On June 27 we sponsored two tabling events, one at the Gateway Center in Wayne and one at the Bryn Mawr Farmers' Market. At both we had health professionals provide free blood pressure screening and volunteers talk to people and gather signatures.
The June 6 organizing meeting featured a lot of talk about single payer. Some of the attendees had never heard of it but had a lot of questions. The handout packet included lots of single payer info. Also attending were a representative from Blue Cross and an organizer from HCAN. One of the other attendees subsequently thought we had "disrespected" them by criticizing the industry. Quite a few of the attendees ended up volunteering on June 27.
The June 27 events were very successful. Lots of people wanted free BP screening and lots of conversations and handouts and signatures resulted. We had lots of volunteers. Lots of info about single payer went out.
The next joint meeting of our groups will be July 22 and we will feature single payer. We're also encouraging attendance at the DC July 30 Rally.

We attended several house parties and spoke up in favor of single payer healthcare. At the first gathering, on June 6, many the overwhelming consensus of participants favored single payer. However, they also decided to support a "robust public option," and to coordinate a volunteer action on the National Day of Service last Saturday, June 27.

On that same day, we hosted a "House Party for Universal Healthcare." After relating their personal stories, all 13 guests declared themselves solidly in favor of single payer healthcare. We provided them with materials for learning more and getting involved in the movement, encouraged them to visit the PDA website and talked about forming a PDA chapter here in San Francisco.

We attended a townhall meeting sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley at David Douglas High School on June 27. He stated that he was in favor of single payer healthcare. It is interesting to note that there was no coverage in the Oregonian on Sunday, June 28. peace, jan e

I attended a OFA Healthcare event. EVERYONE is for single payer - expanded and improved Medicare for ALL. BUT, they want to support their President and he is NOT for single payer universal expanded and improved medicare for all. So they tend to just be resigned and dissapointed.

I attended a OFA meeting last week and many of the group supported Single Payer, but some did not know about it and requested information. I do not have a good single sheet flyer about it, and would like one to pass on. But, maybe my group was more naive. They did not seem discouraged as they did not know about Obama's position. Maybe, as either idea seems so impossible, let's keep pushing for the best. Have heard of a second senator willing to support SP if it come s to the floor. We just have to convince the Senate, that it will be politically damaging to maintain their entrenchment.

Hi,
I attended a houseparty in Berkeley with people as far away as Richmond. As a Single Payer activist, I was pleased to be there and also dismayed to find such about 4, maybe 5 out of 16 folks ignorant about single Payer (even in Berkeley). I think there should be a major door to door campaign to gather stories about the failure of health insurance, explain what we are up against and hand people a flier with the numbers of their legislatures to call for Single Payer and insist on a true public option - no subsidies for insurance companies.
Norie

I attended two OFA meetings, 5//11 and 6//6. Both were transparent efforts to keep Obama presidential campaign volunteers involved and available for 2012, which is fine, except that we did not appreciate being manipulated. Nearly every attendee objected to being told that we would be expected to doorbell in support of an Obama Health Care Plan which had not yet been released, and expressed support for a Single-Payer plan.

I wrote a detailed account of the event I attended, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, here: http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/5680

Suffice it to say, the event morphed into something very close to a single-payer rally.

Attended a OFA health care meeting last week. It is evident that OFA is a top down organization, ie, followers (er, supporters) of Obama have an agenda they adhere to and are not really in existence to hear from the folks that GOT OBAMA ELECTED. Now, part of the problem is that those followers (er, supporters) of Obama in OFA did help get Obama elected, but i think they fail to see how they are being manipulated and therefore are acting as agents for stagnation instead of change.

Anyway, back to the meeting I attended. There were 10 people in attendance. Four of us spoke out in support of Single Payer. We were told that the purpose of the meeting was not to be policy-oriented, we were supposed to "stick with the program". What program? I politely stated that the Administration would be better served listening to other proposals besides the already considered health industry proposals. I also stated that I considered the Administration's position and posture towards Single Payer reform offensive and to not include in debate the opinion of a large percentage of the American people was an affront to democracy.

After we all had our "health care stories" recorded for posterity, the group decided on an OFA volunteer activity. I said, why not do something educating the public about what is going on in their names in the case of health reform. So the group is planning an informational activity in New Haven at The Festival of Arts and Ideas. We agreed that the purpose of the activity would be to get people thinking about the sham of our present system.


Look, it is very clear that the Administration is manipulating the health care debate. Are they meandering towards a path to a single payer solution??? Who knows, right now, the only thing that is clear to me is that OFA is not the place to come up with solutions for change, but the place to fall in line behind the party leader. Well, I'm not ready to get on board.

Roberta McNair, WA06 CDPP, IOT Web pages coordinator

I attended a blatantly single-payer OFA event in Port Orchard, WA, which had as its aim taking action to move Congress toward single payer rather than any doomed-to-failure hybrid plan. We were the choir and didn't need a preacher, so we decided to have a demonstration in Tacoma on June 29, 2009, in front of our representative Norm Dicks's office. If we get enough people at the demonstration, we plan to overflow directly across the street in front of Sen. Maria Cantwell's and Sen. Patty Murray's office building.

I brought eight different handouts to the meeting, including the PDA Healthcare NOT Warfare Flier, talking-point info on HR 676 and its benefits, and how the private insurers take 30% of every healthcare dollar for profits, not healthcare. Everyone took some to pass out to other people. It was a pretty well-informed group, but there were some things that were new and they were glad to learn, either to share or to use to refute opponents.

We were a small but varied group, and what we shared was anger at how OFA is trying to manipulate Democrats who supported Obama, keeping us busy and at hand until the next presidential campaign. We didn't like it that a 'them and us" situation is developing, fed by what single-payer advocates see as an incomprehensible willingness to accept not just compromise but capitulation by groups like MoveOn and TrueMajority.

It's not a happy thing to see the hope that came with Obama's election turn to dismay, with each one-eighty on campaign pledges. So we were glad to be able to take action, not only to achieve single payer, but also to assuage our anger and disappointment.

From what I've heard, this is a more-common reaction than not. I'm actually grateful to OFA for having these events, because it's been a galvanizing force for many who didn't know there was something definitive they could do. It would be great if this was somehow Obama's master plan, but I fear not. That's just a dream I had.

Chandler Az. -

"Organizing For America" meeting in Chandler Az (Phoenix East Valley) on
Sunday June 7th - about 65-70 people came - most with personal stories about
thier own experiences with the Healthcare system - their were doctors,
nurses and other healthcare providers, as will as six activists from the
East Valley Chapter of PDA in attendance. The overwhelmingly view (95%) in
the meeting was support for HR-676 - single -payer!


Peace........ si se puede
Dan O'Neal
Arizona State Coordinator - PDA
dan@pdamerica.org www.pdamerica.org

I went to an event in Park City Utah, attended by about 20 people. If you know Park City, this is a pretty good turnout for a late Spring Saturday afternoon where folks are busy with outdorr activities after a long snowy winter.

That said, the vast majority of people in the room were supporters of single-payer healthcare. What I found most interesting was the confusion on how to interact with their elected officials.

We had a gentleman who was brought up with national health in England and also lived in Canada for a while. And we had a couple of cardiologists who just quit being doctor's because it wasn't worth it anymore. Of course we had a few folk with pre-existing conditions, too.

We decided that instead of doing an event on June 27, we would spread out to the soccer games, and other sporting events around town and have folks use our cell-phones to call their member of Congress right then and there. (Picked up that idea from a single-payer rally held in Northampton, MA.)

I was disappointed that the meeting supported broad three points, whereas HR676, John Conyers, Jr., Expanded Medicare for All, is in Congress now, 77 Representatives have signed on, and it is the only health care plan which will work. Medicare works, is much like Canada's plan which has worked for many years.

Our local physicians are tired of working with insurance companies, and more of the same will not work for all. Insurance companies ARE THE PROBLEM. We have a chance with HR676 now, we know Medicare works for seniors (the most expensive age group) and by adding the rest of the population of young and healthy, broadening the base, eliminating insurance companies, we have a sure plan. Why not go straight there? Obama's plan, like the Massachusetts plan which did not work, is a waste of time and effort. Insurance companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

I attended the event at the Chopra Center in Manhattan. I was late, due to work commitments, and joined during the breakout sessions. My small group was proposing a day of service event to pro- mote wellness and preventative care. I contributed suggestions and offered my services as an audio engineer for the event. I also said we needed to put bodies in the streets in the next 60 days to demonstrate to the Congress the public support for single payer option in any bill or face a "throw the bums out" campaign. When we re-convened for report backs, the other suggestions included meetings at Congressional offices for lobbying under the progressives for america banner, getting space on Capitol Hill for a forum for the folks excluded from the Baucus hearings, and partnering with a group like Atlantis HP (sp?), to create wellness seminars. I had to go back to work, and used my early exit to remind the assembled group that although preventative care education was important , it wasn't immediate. Giving Obama enough political juice in the next 2-3 months to be able to say he would veto any health care bill that didn't have a single payer option in it was. I think they heard me!

As a Senior citizen who gets Medicare, I am amazed at the opposition to further enhance "single payer healthcare" since that is what Medicare is for me. I would like to hear Sen. Baucus' meeting with those who support this issue and see if he has changed his nasty tune regarding those Doctors and Nurses he had arrested.

In Support of Single Payer

Written by Paulette Garin, 2008 Democratic Congressional Candidate (WI-1) currently serving as the Wisconsin State Coordinator for PDA – Progressive Democrats of America.

paulettegarin@yahoo.com

Single Payer Health Care is a plan that would provide every American quality, comprehensive health care regardless of pre-existing condition. It is called single payer because all expenses would be paid through one publicly administered pool. Single Payer combines the best ideas of the left and the right – publicly funded, but privately driven by the consumer (patient) and their doctor.

As Congress addresses the health care crisis in this country, please take the time to contact them and tell them you support House Resolution (HR) 676 – legislation that will create a universal, single payer system to guarantee health care for all Americans.

HR 676 will provide:
• Automatic coverage for life for everyone, even if you lose your job or move. Your health care is no longer tied to your employment.
• Comprehensive medical services including prescription drugs, dental, vision, mental health, and long term care. No co-pays, no deductibles.
• Assures your choice of doctor and hospital.
• Eliminates the administrative waste of private insurance companies who spend 30 cents of every health care dollar for CEO salaries, profits, and paper work, mostly to deny you needed care.
• Puts you and your doctor – not insurance companies – in control of your health care.

HR 676 and health care reform is the only real economic stimulus we have. The number one factor affecting an American company’s ability to meet their bottom line and remain competitive in the global economy is the outrageous health insurance premiums they pay for their employees.

HR 676 would be funded through a 6.6% payroll tax. Currently, it costs an individual $8,000 annually to buy private health insurance with a $2,000 deductible – no dental, vision, or prescription coverage. Under HR 676, only individuals making well over $100,000 a year would even get close to paying $8,000 and it would be for far better coverage.

As more and more companies drop their employer provided plans and more retiree’s benefit packages fail, the 6.6% payroll tax becomes an attractive bargain.

President Barack Obama said if he were building the health care system from scratch, a single payer system would be the best approach. Senator Russ Feingold said he'd support a single payer system over our current system, which he called a "mess.” HOWEVER, both President Obama and Senator Feingold recognize that our nation has a long tradition of health care through private insurance companies and that trying to eliminate their influence is an almost insurmountable task.

This is why it is imperative for each of us to contact our President, Senators, Congresspersons and all other elected officials stating our support for a single payer system. They need our help to overcome the powerful well funded lobbyists working against Single Payer.

Health Care Reform is the Civil Rights Movement of our time; it will require all of us who believe in a National Single Payer system to stand up and ask those who are opposed to kindly step aside.

In the current America, Inc. (for profit) system of healthcare there are no incentives for the uninsured to get insurance. Only disincentives! 1. Stay healthy, with a hope and a prayer, so that healthcare services can be avoided; 2 Work to discover a plan for which you and your family qualify at a reasonable expense; 3. Pay a monthly premium to make me eligible for services that may not be needed after all. Time to wise up and remove these disincentives and the massive incentives for the corporations to keep the status quo in place.

It's time to take the profits out of healthcare... Single payer is away of doing this so that having adequate and quality becomes a recognized citizen's right. This right needs to be added to Bill of Rights...

I will not make any contributions to the DSCC -- money that could go to support the re-election of Sen Baucus and others who do not support single payer. Perhaps if enough progressives took this position and made it known, pressure could be brought to bear on these DINOs.

I hope you are contacting them with your message.

Good idea.

What is Single-Payer Insurance?

Single-payer health care is a term used in the United States to describe the payment of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers from a single fund.

Medicare is a single-payer plan.

So what’s the big deal about not wanting single-payer?

Corporate greed, plain and simple. If our country chose to provide national health insurance with a single payer system, health insurance companies would lose a their piece of the health care pie.

Our current system of delivering health care through our employer is not only outdated and broken, but it is having a substantial impact on our ability to remain competitive in the new world economy. We are 37th in the World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health system. We spend in excess of 15% of our gross national product on healthcare and we have 47 million Americans that go without medical care because they can’t get or can’t afford health insurance.

The value of a national single-payer plan is that the plan pools the risk, would accept everyone and would lower the premiums.

Universal healthcare has been given a bad name in the U.S. by those who have the most to lose. Healthcare and pharmacuetical companies spend large sums of money each year lobbying congress, and influencing the powers that be to make sure we are afraid of it, because again, they stand to loose billions.

“Socialism” has been heard recently by those opposed to any type healthcare reform. Social Security is a social saftey net and is “socialism” in nature. This same retorihic was heard 1935 when the Social Security Act was voted in.

This time in our history is much like the 1930s. With our current economy and unemployment, it is possible that the 47 million uninsured will grow much faster. Until we take the profit out of healthcare, we will continue to rank 37th among other nations, continue to fail those who have fallen through the cracks and continue to enable a culture of corporate greed and a broken healthcare system.

Jim Therrian
San Diego, CA