{news} Fw: Act now for single payer: host or join a house meeting

[Justine McCabe]

Physicians for a National Health Program



 December 8, 2008


      Dear PNHP colleagues and friends:


      We urge you to act swiftly to host or participate in one of the "Health Care Community Discussions" sponsored by President-elect Barack Obama's Transition Team from Dec. 15-31. You can sign up to do so here:


      http://change.gov/page/s/hcdiscussion


      We need your voice and leadership abilities at this critical moment to ensure that single-payer national health insurance is a prominent part of these discussions. Once you have signed up to participate, please let us know by sending us an e-mail (info at pnhp.org).  This will allow us to provide you with useful background materials, and help us to gauge whether the Transition Team's recommendations accurately reflect the level of single-payer support.


      You have no doubt noticed that health reform has taken on a new sense of urgency, driven by the deepening health care crisis, the recession, and the high expectations that many people have of the incoming administration.  Health reform is also getting much more media attention (see, for example, recent commentaries in the Des Moines Register and the Philadelphia Inquirer).


      Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) recently unveiled his proposals for health reform, which largely mirror Obama's, and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has been holding meetings with various stakeholders and policy experts to prepare his own legislation.


      However well intentioned, the Obama/Baucus/Kennedy approaches share a fatal flaw: they preserve a central role for the private health insurance industry.  This approach is simply not viable, as numerous state-based experiments patterned on this model have shown. Such plans always fail because they are unable to control costs.


      At the same time, single payer has gained new momentum. It's a bold solution that meets our country's needs in a way that no other program can, and enjoys solid support of physicians and the general public alike. The insurance and pharmaceutical industries would like us to believe that single payer is "off the table," but we know otherwise.


      That's why we appeal to you to speak out in support of single-payer national health insurance now - at the Transition Team house party meetings (again, visit http://change.gov/page/s/hcdiscussion to sign up as a host or as a participant), at Grand Rounds, at public meetings, and in op-eds and letters to the editor. Whatever you can do to carve out time from your busy schedule and let your voice be heard, please do so. 


      Our Chicago office can help you with talking points, printed materials, slideshows, editing and whatever other assistance you may need. And our web site will have special talking points on the most current issues (www.pnhp.org/change), updated frequently.


      Please speak out during this critical time . and let us know how it goes!

      Cordially,


            
            Quentin Young, M.D. 
            National Coordinator Ida Hellander, M.D.
            Executive Director 

      P.S. You are also invited, of course, to make a tax-deductible contribution to PNHP. You can do so by clicking here. We need to muster all the resources we can to advance the cause of single payer during this extraordinary moment.

     


Physicians for a National Health Program
29 E Madison Suite 602, Chicago, IL 60602
Phone (312) 782-6006 | Fax: (312) 782-6007
www.pnhp.org | info at pnhp.org
© PNHP 2008

If you no longer wish to receive alerts from PNHP, please email us


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.15 - Release Date: 12/5/2008 12:00 AM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/private/ctgp-news/attachments/20081208/bf4f0787/attachment.html>