Single Payer: Call-in May 20; lobby and rally May 27th; Action on May 30th

Dear Single Payer New York Folks:

Things are heating up in DC and Albany around single payer and we need your help. www.singlepayernewyork.org

Below is info on:
1) Wed. May 20th call in to Governor Paterson on single payer
2) Wed. May 27th lobby day and rally for single payer in Albany
3) Sat. May 30th.-Organize a local event in support of single payer health care and Rochester Town Hall Meeting 6pm-8pm.

All of these activities take money, it is crucial to build momentum for the grassroots movement now. Please make a contribution today to Single Payer New York. Checks can be mailed to our treasurer, Connie Laporta, 1935 Fifth St., Troy, NY 12180.

Wednesday, May 20th
This Wednesday we are organizing a phone in to Governor Paterson, who sponsored single payer legislation as a State Senator. The long-delayed report by the Governor's Universal Health Care Task Force is due out shortly and we want it to recommend single payer as the New York approach. Sample message below:

Governor Paterson, 518 474-8390. "We want Gov. Paterson to recommend a single payer health care system as part of the state's report on universal health care. We also want Gov. Paterson to meet with single payer advocates on May 27th."

May 27th is our statewide lobby day and rally in Albany that we have organized in conjunction with the national day of action on single payer. We are pushing three issues on Wed. 1) have the Senate pass a resolution in support of HR 676 (the Assembly did this last year); 2) have the Senate and Assembly pass single payer legislation (A2356, S2370); 3) get legislators to sign on to a letter to Pres. Obama in support of single payer health care.

Details about the day are below. It starts at 9:30 AM at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 85 Chestnut St. (1/2 block from State Capitol). Let dunleamark@aol.com know if you are coming and whether you would like to carpool.

Saturday, May 30th is a national day of action around single payer. A major NY event will take place in Rochester at 6 PM with Cong. John Conyers, lead sponsor of HR 676; Cong. Eric Massa and John Nichols of the Nation. It will be at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, 657 East Ave., Rochester. Even if you plan to drive to Rochester, that leaves plenty of time to organize a press conference, vigil, forum, leafleting, tabling (at Farmers' Market, post office, etc.) in your own community.

May 30th: National Day of Action
Nationwide Rallies for Improved Medicare for AllJoin thousands of single-payer supporters in a nationwide week of action to support improved Medicare for all (HR 676). Single-payer activists will be gathering all over the country to say, "Healthcare, yes; Insurance companies, no," and to show solidarity with demonstrations at the AHIP (American Health Insurance Plans, a private health insurance lobby) conference in San Diego.If an action isn't already in your city, plan your own day of action! It can be a town hall meeting, demonstration in front of a local insurance company, film showing, vigil, or your own unique idea. Let us know what you'd like to start planning by contacting info@healthcare-now.org.47 million Americans are uninsured. Private insurance rates are rising faster than inflation and our incomes. By 2025 the cost of private health insurance will exceed our projected income.A national, single-payer healthcare system is the only healthcare reform option that will cover every American resident while saving us billions of dollars. The majority of Americans want it. The majority of physicians want it. The only thing missing is the political will in Washington. Single Payer Healthcare Advocates to Rally at Capitol on May 27th

Politicians Need to Protect the People, Not Health Insurance Companies

Supporters of a single payer Medicare for All universal health care program will rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday May 27th at noon.

Representatives of groups supporting single payer will also meet with individual state legislators throughout the day and have requested a meeting with Governor Paterson.

The groups want New York State to pass legislation to create its own single payer universal health care system. The California state legislature has twice voted to create a single payer system but it has been vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Governor Paterson, in contrast, has been a long time supporter of single payer health care. The long-delayed state study by the Urban Institute on what type of universal health system New York should adopt is due out in the next few months.

The single payer groups are also supporting the resolution introduced by Senator Neil Breslin to have the State Senate urge Congress to pass HR 676 (Conyors – D MI), the federal single payer bill. HR 676 is currently co-sponsored by more than 70 Representatives, including many from New York.

Single payer supporters are also upset that the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and the White House have so far refused to consider a single payer health care system while instead insisting that private for-profit health insurance must continue to play a role in any universal health care system. Thirteen single payer advocates have been arrested in recent weeks for protesting the exclusion of single payer supporters at the Senate Finance Committee hearings on universal health care.

It is estimated that as much as 35 cents of every health care dollar goes to pay for the administration of private health insurance that provides nothing of value to the health care system. The practices of insurance companies contribute to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually. Eliminating private health insurance through a single payer system could save $350 to $400 billion annually.

Even though the US spends almost twice as much money per capita on health care compared to other industrial countries, the performance of the American health care system consistently ranks among the worse of the industrial countries (e.g., 37th by the World Health Organization), while leaving as many as 75 million Americans without insurance during part of any year.

Sponsors of the event include Single Payer New York (www.singlepayernewyork.org), Capital District Alliance for Universal Health Care, Capital District Area Labor Federation; Faith and Hunger Network; Hunger Action Network of NYS: New York State Nurses Association; Physicians for a National Health Program; Students for a National Health Program; Tompkins County Health Care Task Force; and Troy Area Labor Council.