Dr. Nilles handed this statement to Nancy-Ann DeParle at the forum in Des Moines today:

White House Regional Health Care Forum
Des Moines, Iowa
March 23, 2009
Statement of Lisa Nilles, M.D.
Member of the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition and Physicians for a National Health Program

Hello. My name is Lisa Nilles, and I am a physician and chaplain from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I came to Des Moines today to hold the Obama administration to its promises.

I hold the administration to its promise to:

Respond to the tens of thousands of Americans who honored your request to submit on-line questions on health care reform, and to participate in community forums, this past December.

The people spoke in favor of single-payer. Are these voices being considered in the planning currently going on in Washington? As our health care costs spiral out of control and lead our citizens, businesses and government to the edge of bankruptcy, if not into it, the people know that our current multiple payer system is part of the problem, and expansion and improvement of our Medicare program is the solution.

I hold the administration to its promise to:

Develop policy based on science.

I urge you, President Obama, to support the health care reform plan that best provides universal access and controls cost. Insist that HR 676 be included in the work of the Congressional Budget Office, and insist that our elected officials base their recommendations on the evidence. Our lives depend on this.

To all our elected officials. You need public support to enact broad changes. You have it.* By bringing the National Health Insurance Act, HR 676, to the table, to the debate, and to the President’s desk, you will have represented the will of the American people, and finally, America will join the ranks of countries who commit to the health care of their citizens, and are better for it. Thank you.

* CBS/New York Times Poll, Feb. 1, 2009. 59% of those surveyed thought the government should be the entity responsible for providing national health insurance, 32% thought private enterprise should be the responsible entity.