{news} GP ADVISORY Greens support protest of Obama's barring of single-payer advocates from March 5 health summit at White House

Thu Mar 5 10:10:21 EST 2009

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org

Greens urge widespread protest over President Obama's exclusion of
Single-Payer/Medicare For All advocates from the March 5 health care
reform summit at the White House

. Two protests scheduled: (1) in front of the White House on Thursday,
March 5, organized by Physicians for a National Health Program and
other single-payer groups; (2) "Burn Your Health Insurance Bill Day"
outside of a health insurance lobby meeting in Washington, DC, on
Wednesday, March 11

. "The First 100 Days: What Would a Green Administration Look Like?"
(video and text) http://www.gp.org/first100

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders said today that Americans should
be furious over President Obama's barring of advocates for
single-payer (also called Medicare For All) from his March 5 health
care summit.

Greens urged widespread protest, including rallies and phone calls to
the White House and to Congress members, over the exclusion.  Polls
have demonstrated consistent popular support for a national health
care program that guarantees universal coverage
(http://www.wpasinglepayer.org/PollResults.html).

The 120 guests invited to the White House meeting include lobbyists
for the for-profit insurance industry, as well as members of Congress,
including Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus, who has declared
the single-payer "off the table."  The Center for Responsive Politics
has documented the campaign money that the insurance industry has
given to Democrats and Republicans for their leverage over health care
and other policies
(http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=F09), with a
total of $46,002,881 in insurance lobby contributions in 2008.

Green Party leaders encouraged support for and attendance at two
protest actions in Washington, DC over President Obama's exclusion of
single-payer voices from the summit:

. Physicians for a National Health Program (http://www.pnhp.org) and
other members of the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care
and the National Single Payer Alliance, will demonstrate on Thursday,
March 5 from noon to 1:00 pm at Lafayette Square in front of the White
House. Health care providers are encouraged to bring their white
coats.  More information: Danielle Alexander, 202-662-0614,
danielle at pnhp.org

. Single-payer supporters will hold a "Burn Your Health Insurance Bill
Day" demonstration (http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/03) on
Wednesday, March 11, 10 am in front of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in
downtown Washington, DC.  The address is 1150 22nd Street, NW, near
the Dupont Circle and GWU/Foggy Bottom Metro stations.  Inside the
Ritz-Carlton, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the main
Washington lobbying group for health insurance corporations, will meet
to discuss plans to derail single-payer
(http://www.ahip.org/links/policy2009/).

"President Obama, along with most Democrats and Republicans in
Congress, has chosen the demands of the for-profit health insurance
industry over America's need for universal health care.  The Green
Party supports the single-payer national health plan, which covers all
Americans and would rescue those who now face financial ruin because
they lack insurance or have inadequate coverage," said David Doonan,
Village Mayor of Greenwich, New York and a member of the Green Party.

"Single-payer will cut national health care costs by as much as a
third, significantly reduce what working Americans pay for health
coverage, and provide everyone with guaranteed quality care regardless
of ability to pay, income, age, or prior medical condition.
Furthermore, single-payer will give everyone full choice of health
care provider and drastically cut the paperwork that plagues
physicians and other health professionals," added Jody Grage,
treasurer of the Green Party of the United States.

Greens note that enactment of a Single-Payer program would boost the
ailing US economy and provide relief for businesses large and small,
since it would cancel the high expense and administrative burden of
employer-based health care benefits
(http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=158).  Rep. John Conyers'
(D-Mich.) bill for Single-Payer (HR 676,
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h676_ih.xml) has strong Green
Party support.

Read "An International Perspective on Health Care Reform" by
Connecticut Green Party member John R. Battista, MD
(http://www.gp.org/first100/?p=119), published on the Green Party's
web site as part of "The First 100 Days: What Would a Green
Administration Look Like?" (http://www.gp.org/first100)

For a comparison of mandate plans and Single-Payer , see "Talking
Points: Why the mandate plans won't work, and why Single-Payer
'Medicare for All' is what we need" by Len Rodberg, PhD, published by
Physicians for a National Health Program
(http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/december/talking_points_why_.php).

See also:

Green Party information page on Single-Payer:
http://www.gp.org/organize/sicko.html

"President Obama can either work to enact health care for all
Americans or he can support insurance and HMO industry profits, say
Greens"
Green Party press release, January 29, 2009
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=174

Video clips:
2008 Green presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney speaks on
Single-Player health care and racial health care disparities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEHd4lRVUuU
More on health care: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEHd4lRVUuU
Health, the environment, and the economy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVNTOa8owQQ

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
. Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
. Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
. Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
. Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
. Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
. Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

Green Pages, Vol. 13, No. 1
The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog

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