April 2007 Is National Martin Luther King, Jr.Healthcare Month
"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
UPDATE: We have had many diaries wherein Kossacks tell horrible stories about personal healthcare experiences. Today, is a day for action - to do something other than talk about how bad it is.
Please call 1-866-338-1015 and ask your Congressional representative to co-sponsor H.R. 676! To find your representative click www.congressmerge.com
Once you have called, please click and sign the petition linked at the bottom.
On April 4, 2007, the anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, please join Progressive Democrats of America and Healthcare NOW! in honoring his life and legacy by calling your Congressional representative to sign on to the only national plan to end this injustice - H.R. 676, the "National Health Insurance Act/Expanded and Improved Medicare for All."
Sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (MI) and Rep. Denis Kucinich.(OH), H.R. 676 will provide comprehensive universal coverage through a single-payer system of privately-delivered, publicly-financed healthcare - giving all Americans better healthcare at less cost. It will cover all medical expenses – doctors, nurses, hospitals, dental, optical, mental health services, prescription drugs and long-term care.
Under non-bureaucratic single-payer, our society saves close to $300 billion a year in healthcare costs – by eliminating private insurers and their wasteful bureaucracies, advertising, commissions, profiteering and multi-million dollar CEO salaries.
If your member of Congress has already signed on as a co-sponsor, please take this opportunity to thank him or her for responding to the demand of the American people. For a current list of co-sponsors, see
http://thomas.loc.gov/...
Voters in the 2006 election told pollsters that healthcare is their top domestic priority. Most Americans want a government supported national healthcare system. In recent months, the AFL-CIO has endorsed Medicare for All, as has the Congressional Progressive Caucus. HR 676 has also recently been endorsed by the National Education Association (NEA), the National Organization for Women, the NAACP, ACT UP – and in resolutions passed by the Kentucky and New Hampshire state legislatures and the Washington State Democratic Party. LINK Click here for a full list of endorsers. http://www.healthcare-now.org/...
While we are consumed with ending the Iraq occupation and bringing our troops home, we must address the crisis of healthcare, which affects both veterans and civilians. Nearly 47 million Americans, more than 15 percent of our population, now go without health insurance, up 6.8 million since 2000. Over 18,000 people in the U.S. die each year due to lack of access to medical treatment.
You can make history today by turning the crisis in healthcare toward a genuine solution. In the 1930s, we won Social Security. In the ‘60s, we won Medicare for seniors! Now we must fight and win Expanded/Improved Medicare for All!
URGE YOUR REP. TO CO-SPONSOR H.R. 676
TO HONOR DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING ON APRIL 4, 2007
Call 1-866-338-1015
After you have called, please go and sign this petition:
Thousands of petitions have already been signed by people all over the country in support of this effort. It is certainly a factor in helping people understand the issue, and may well be a reason for the new statistics reporting that 65% of the voters in this country support a government-guaranteed national healthcare system. You can help bring those numbers up and get Congress to do the right thing sooner than we thought possible.
Whereas: We spend over $2 trillion , for healthcare in the US, yet millions are still not covered or receiving the care they need.
Whereas: We spend 40% more than any other industrialized nation per capita each year, but despite our gigantic health care budget, we do not have the best healthcare. In fact, the United States ranks behind thirty-seven other countries in healthcare status, according to the World Health Organization, enough money to cover everybody with excellent comprehensive coverage.
Whereas: A bill has been proposed in Congress, HR-676, that outlines a national health care program that will provide guaranteed affordable health care and prescription drugs to everyone in the country
Whereas: Over 12,000 thousand doctors have signed on in favor of this plan, including two former U.S. Surgeons General
Whereas: Under this proposed plan, we can pay for a comprehensive national health care program with the same money we are now spending and cover every single person in the United States
And Whereas: The bill provides money for retraining those whose jobs as administrators in the insurance industry would be lost as a result of this shift;
Be it Resolved That: We call on our members of Congress to pass HR 676 so our people and our nation can have the excellent health care system we deserve. Health care is a human right, and we call on our members of Congress to recognize that right.
Sign Here!
UPDATE with plea: We have a lot going on politically, but with all the hundreds of comments that fill healthcare diaries - full of stories about the devastating crisis that is our current health care system, I hope everyone will take a moment to recommend this diary, so it stays up a while and that you take action. Even if you think HR 676 is asking for too much right now - your call helps open the Overton Window wide enough to allow a better system in.
Even if we can't get full Universal Coverage for ourselves, maybe we get it for our kids and grandkids, by pushing the envelope today.
Please - take just a minute to recommend and ACT!
Thanks!