The Granite State Chapter of PNHP had a great meeting in New Castle, N.H., on Dec. 4, and is gearing up for the debate around health care that that is certain to erupt during the presidential primary campaign, which starts here in about a month. (The primary election itself will take place in January 2012.)

We’ve decided to combine forces with our state’s newly formed chapter of Healthcare-Now to create a grassroots “Health Care Party” (a play on the Tea Party model) – a  nonpartisan, non-electoral alliance whose goal is to educate and disseminate information to the public that will lead to our ultimate goal of an improved Medicare for all.

We’re excited about getting single-payer supporters, particularly PNHP and Healthcare-Now members, to attend the myriad political events here in 2011 to ask the candidates hard questions, somewhat like what the Tea Party forces did at candidate forums in the summer of 2009. And just to be clear: we are not forming or registering as a political entity and we would never endorse any candidates. But we intend to make our voices heard.

Grassroots political activity is on the rise — you might look at the book “Mad as Hell” by Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen to see what people are thinking AND no longer suppressing. Keep in mind that single payer has been totally suppressed by the elites, despite the fact that polls show MAJORITY support for our point of view.

Opportunity is knocking. Let’s take advantage of it.

[Editor’s note: you can follow these updates on a daily basis at madashelldoctors.com.]

California Road Trip, Day 9, Santa Barbara
October 1, 2010

By all accounts, last evenings presentation in Santa Barbara was packed and powerful. The “local” speakers were superb. I wasn’t there. I rejoined the MAHD California road trip today, after three days at the American College of Emergency Physicians meeting in Las Vegas, where I was startled by the number of docs who hadn’t heard of PNHP. There were a few (very few) talks of relevance to health reform, but I had the extreme pleasure of hearing ER Dr. Brent Asplin, from Minnesota, in a very well attended session, addressing the question, “How do we get VALUE for all the money were are spending on health care?”… and then go on to say, “The problem is cost. The solution is organization.” He stresses, as a society, we will never get value for our money unless everybody is covered. The cost of caring for people before they get sick is trivial compared to treating them after they fall into the ranks for the ill.

When a portion of the population isn’t “covered,” the hidden and not so hidden costs, both financial and social, to everybody are substantial. Though he didn’t mention single payer, he appears to make a case that without an inclusive, real system, we will never find value and never control costs. And how will we EVER find value while we literally waste 20-25% of ALL our health care dollars servicing the insurance industry that adds nothing to health and complicates the lives of those who actually care for you?

On the escalator, after the talk, I asked an older doc, even older than I, what he thought. With great angst, he stated, “Whenever we mix money, politics and medicine, we will get nowhere. I used to care. Now, I am just trying to finish my career.” I identify with his despondency, but can we really afford to not care?

-paul hochfeld

California Road Trip, Day 8
September 30, 2010

Sarcastic News Flash!!! Insert tongue into cheek now.

Today we learned from our friends in San Luis Obispo that California has solved the problem of obtaining health care for their 6.5 million uninsured and their millions of underinsured! Two days ago the Governator signed into law a bill that allows health care clinicians from out of state to come to California to provide free medical care, just like clinicians do in other third world countries.

This legislation was sparked by the group Remote Area Medicine who first brought their medical and dental teams to Los Angeles last year. On the first day, they were overwhelmed as thousands of people lined up at their door. Many of the people who showed up had insurance but had found that they still couldn’t afford necessary care. Welcome to third world America!

But let’s get serious, the news isn’t all bad. Our experience in San Luis Obispo is that this is a passionate community of physicians and health advocates. We had lunch with 4 local doctors who wanted to learn more about single payer. One doctor had spent the past ten months organizing a comprehensive free clinic for the community.

Our forum at the local library was attended by over 120 people who shared their caring and their stories with us. One physician told us that he was happy to be employed by the state prison system. The pay is good and he can focus on taking care of his patients without insurance company hassles. He reminded us that prisoners cannot legally be denied necessary medical care, unlike those outside of prison. He was able to spearhead an initiative to ban all tobacco products in the prison which resulted in a 40% decrease in referrals to cardiologists. Oh the horrors of socialized medicine!

We need a health care system that is universal and promotes preventative measures to improve health, just like those in the California prison system. We need single payer now.

California Road Trip, Day 8, Las Vegas
September 30, 201

Special report from Paul Hochfeld…

Since when is Las Vegas in California? Explanation. After the Santa Cruz event, I left the Road Trip for three days to attend the American College of Emergency Physicians meeting, in Las Vegas, where PNHP has a table among the other “exhibitors.” Every so often, a supporter shakes our hands then shakes his/her head in agreement, “We didn’t fix it, did we?” Occasionally, someone questions, “What are you selling?” We explain the history and purpose of Physicians for a National Health Program. Single payer supporter or not, every doctor agrees that our sick care non-system is profoundly broken.

The Exhibit Hall

Vegas is surreal. The exhibit hall is equally surreal. Our humble PNHP table is surrounded by multi-hospital emergency groups (who charge local groups up to 32% for “management fees”), billing/coding companies, drug pushers, purveyors of a variety of software packages, and assorted medical gizmo manufacturers.

“Vendors” use every trick imaginable to seduce emergency physicians to ask about their wares. Examples includes shapely ladies (of course), free ice cream serves by a ’50s era candy store owner, raffles, and plenty of other giveaways, including the usual pens, bags, candy, coffee, and water bottles. The most insulting was the Elvis impersonator bedecked with sequins! That’s the depths to which our sick care non-system has sunk.

Their shared goal is to “game” the system to maximize collections from patients and third party payer. More revenue for providers translates into more money to share with those providing products and services to physicians. Sadly, the complexity of dealing with fourteen hundred insurance carriers makes so many of these vendors valuable. After all, health care is a commodity and the goal is maximum profits.

I rejoin the MAHD Road trip tomorrow night after our Santa Barbara presentation. We will “lose” Margaret Flowers on Friday, but Carol Paris, also of Baucus Eight notoriety, will join us for several presentations in the L.A. area. We’re like a well oiled machine with replaceable parts.

California Road Trip, Day 7
September 29, 2010

“The evidence is conclusive that our people do not yet receive all the benefits they could from modern medicine. For the rich and near-rich there is no real problem since they can command the very best science has to offer.… Among the majority of the population, however, there are great islands of untreated or partially treated cases.…Although it is a principle of far-reaching and, perhaps, of revolutionary significance, I think there are few who would deny that our ultimate objective should be to make these benefits available in full measure to all of the people.”

This quote was spoken by Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, the first President of Stanford University, in 1932 and sadly it is still appropriate now. Today we traveled to Stanford to speak to faculty and medical students about PPACA and Single Payer.

In defense of the political feasibility of PPACA, but not really explaining its nuances or fatal flaws, was Dr. Arnold Milstein. Out of only a handful of slides was a photo tribute to a woman he considers a “friend” and “smart and reasonable.” The infamous Nancy Ann DeParle. This is the same DeParle who earned $6 million from sitting on the boards of at least 6 companies that were targets of federal investigations, whistleblower lawsuits and other regulatory actions, and now is commonly known as Obama’s “Healthcare Czar.” Dr. Milstein’s main point focused on the fact that smart people in Washington did the best they could.

In defense of single payer was Mad As Hell Doc Margaret Flowers. Her job was simple because all that she had to do was show the evidence of the failure of the market when it comes to health care and the evidence of the success of single payer. Margaret compared PPACA to HR 676 based on 9 criteria such as universality, affordability, and sustainability and the striking differences couldn’t have been more obvious.

Following the presentations, the MAHD marched with local single payer advocates to the “Gates of Hell” in the Rodin Sculpture Garden where we expressed our anger at health injustice in this nation and our conviction to end it.

“Political feasibility” ignores true human suffering and continues to tie our sick care non-system to a sinking ship. We just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic and think we’ll miss the iceberg.

California Road Trip, Day 6
September 28, 2010

Santa Cruz, Sept. 28

“We’re number 1!” Not hardly.

During our “physician briefing,” prior to our Santa Cruz presentation, we learned that the Public Health Agency of Canada has published a travel advisory for, of all places. California, which is in the midst of the biggest outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) in 50 years. Because of four thousand cases and nine infant deaths, so far, this year, California is being treated as we treat underdeveloped countries, whose health care systems are primitive or otherwise failing, thereby putting travelers at risk.

How can this be? Don’t we have the best health care system in the world? Nope. Number 37th actually. Many health insurance plans don’t cover routine immunizations, many of which are recommended as for public health. Isn’t PPACA going to change this by covering preventive care? Nah. It only applies to new/renewed policies and many older group policies will remain “grandfathered” which means that some provisions will never apply to them. They will pay for a portion of expensive treatment, but not for prevention. Their profits will put YOUR infant at risk by keeping whooping cough endemic in your community.

That’s why I call it a sick care non-system.

California Road Trip, Day 5
September 27, 2010

Yesterday, Margaret Flowers joined us on the stage at La Pena Cultural Center and will remain with us through Santa Barbara. As expected, the “standing room only” crowd was mostly the choir. One might ask, “What’s the point?” The choir is our best tool, but only if they get out of the choir pews. Only by giving them (you?) the intellectual tools, insights and confidence to speak with friends, neighbors and communities we will be able to educate those who don’t yet understand the subtleties of the single payer solution and why PPACA didn’t fix it. We surely can’t count on media to do this for us.

As an aside, en route to our morning event at Santa Clare Valley Medical Center, I visited a grade school friend and his wife, who recently underwent an outpatient “lumpectomy.” The hospital bill, not including physicians fees, was $50,000, which will be discounted substantially for her insurance carrier. Without insurance, she would be expected to pay the full bill. Of course, different carriers “settle” for different amounts. Are there ANY other “industries” where different customers pay such drastically different amounts for the same services? With everybody in the same risk pool, everybody would pay the same amount… and the average primary care provider would not have to spent more than $60,000 per year on billing services to navigate the chaos… as they do today.

California Road Trip, Day 4
September 26, 2010

NEWSFLASH!!!! Yesterday, the Associated Press released the results of a poll performed in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Stanford University that confirms what Fox has been telling us. It’s true that 60% of Americans are NOT supportive of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka PPACA, Obama Care, Baucus Care, PeePee-Caca). As it turns out, however, twice as many of those who don’t support it think it should have gone farther. They believe we need more government involvement in health care so we can have a real system that isn’t designed to service the insurance industry. We are not alone.

On the road again…Days 1 – 3, posts by Paul Hochfeld
September 23, 2010

Morning #1, Willow Creek, Sept. 23.

On the road again… Yesterday, we wound our way through the fabulous Trinity Alps to our host’s house near Willow Creek, half way up the side of a mountain. As the near-full moon sets and the Sun is about to illuminate the valley below, let’s call this Morning #1.

Fittingly, the first phase of health care reform – PPACA (aka Obama Care) – begins today. Is it good or bad? Over the last few days, the Mad As Hell Doctors have explored this important question through a series of meandering email exchanges that resemble yesterday’s mountain roads. Winding and harrowing.

Here’s our “party line”… Undeniably, PPACA does a few good things that are beneficial to a few people, but overall it further entrenches Health Insurance Industry by subsidizing their flawed product with more tax dollars. We still don’t have anything resembling a real system, with true universal and equal access to care. Rising costs remain a cancer to our economy and, without question, some of your neighbors will continue to suffer unnecessarily because of financial barriers to care. We can do better.

Morning #2, hosted in the wooded hills behind Arcata, the Hippie Capital of the West.

Last evening, our event at the Bayside Grange drew an enthusiastic audience of over two hundred who, I hope, learned something that they can share with their friends and neighbors. Since, it’s apparent that we can’t count on Major Media, it up to YOU to take the discussion to your communities, either one-on-one or in small gatherings. It’s OUR job to make sure you have the tools to answer difficult questions about Single Payer health care. Isn’t that Socialism? What about choice? How can we afford it?

The easy answer to the last question is “We can’t afford not to do it!” Consider all the money we are now spending on health care as our “health tax,” as do just about all the other industrialized countries. That’s over $7,000 per capita. By putting everybody in the same risk pool, getting rid of the 1,400 middlemen (insurance companies) that don’t add anything to our “health,” we can save 20-25% of the total. With those savings, we can accomplish true universal access and make sure everybody gets the care they need when they need it… instead of wandering into our emergency rooms in critical condition costing ALL of us more money in our sometimes futile attempts to “save them.”

We’re all paying for everybody anyway so why don’t we create a system to reflect it!

Morning #3, Santa Rosa, Sept. 25

Before leaving Eureka, Philip (dwarfed by the tree) and I shared a couple of beers with a dear friend and his grown son who own the local concrete/gravel company. Of course, the talk turned to health care. By their accounts, like other small businessmen, virtually, every time they interface with the “government,” whether dealing with environmental regulators or marketing/supplying their products to local, county or state governments, they find waste and workers who have little regard for the efficiencies they cherish in the private sector. I can’t argue with their experience, yet I explain that the laws of supply and demand are upside down in health care. The suppliers (that would be doctors) dictate demand by the tests/interventions that we order. Furthermore, unlike any other industry, we are all paying for everybody anyway and the for-profit private health insurance industry is a middle man that adds NOTHING to the quality of the product (health) while adding 20-25% to total cost. My friends “get it,” but when it comes to discussing the solution, they go right, embracing smaller, less intrusive government, while I go left, to a single payer system managed by those charged with the well being of all of us, aka government.

The following day, en route to Santa Rosa, I stopped briefly to gawk at the Redwoods, where it occurred to me that without government regulations, all of the large groves would eventually disappear into lumber for our decks. Isn’t it the responsibility of government to reign in the self-serving urges of private (and corporate) interests, who have a long history of profiting from plundering the planet while leaving the REAL cost of repairing their damage to all of us? It may be a stretch, but so it is with health care.

The for-profit private health insurance industry spends a lot of money dividing us into risk pools: Medicare, Medicaid (Medi-Cal), the Vets, Employees of large/small companies, and Individuals with/without previous medical conditions. Using taxpayer subsidies, they profit from being the middle man in the care of those who are least expensive, while the government (that would be the taxpayer) pays for the care of those who are most expensive … the old, the sick, and the disabled. The taxpayer gets screwed again while corporations manipulate the political process thereby ensuring their continued profits.

By simply putting everybody in the same risk pool, we could save a substantial amount of money which would give us more resources to care for everybody. Who administers the risk pool? That would be the single payer. The government. Can we trust them to do it? Wait, wait. “Them” is “we.” We trust the government to run the post office, we have cheapest postal rates in the world, and they never lose a package. The VA Health System gets better results that the community, has high patient satisfaction, and does so at less cost. Virtually every other developed country of the world has some form of “single risk pool”… and they get better results at half the cost. In the meantime, United Health Care spends “our” money on very slick, expensive television ads try to convince you they are more concerned about YOU than their profits.

Back to my friends, throughout the (late) evening, we laughed, listened, agreed to disagree, caught up on family stuff and looked forward to our next opportunity to verbally spar, while sharing our friendship. Respectful conversations with those who don’t yet share our insights are crucial to the “cause” of single payer. Don’t be afraid to talk to those who aren’t already part of the choir. Are we going to change their minds? Probably not in the short run, but we’ll have fun trying.

After hearing someone say that health care reform is the civil rights issue of this decade, I retrieved the 1966 speech on civil disobedience by Dr. Martin Luther King. The two strategies described were marches and boycotts. His marches were successful because large target populations could be found in cities like Chicago and Atlanta , and quickly reached through churches. The single-payer movement has not been able to find such concentrated populations. Our rallies in D.C. and the Mad Docs tour in 2009 did not produce numbers of sufficient size to command attention. Let’s consider boycotts.

Dr. King said, “There is nothing quite so effective as refusal to cooperate economically with the forces and institutions which perpetuate evil in our communities.” Under the leadership of SCLC, refusing to buy products from companies which do not hire Negroes (sic), resulted in an increase of income in that community by more than $2 million annually.

Another example is the boycott organized by the Committee of African Organizations (CAO) with support from South Africa ’s Liberal Party in 1959. Additional support grew in British organizations and international labor movements. South African products came off the shelves. Eventually apartheid ended.

Paul Krugman recently commented on the sharp increase in premiums announced by WellPoint in their California individual market. WellPoint is not the villain. The current system invites a death spiral for the insurance industry which relies on large a large pool containing healthy clients to keep costs down. In the current economy, cash-strapped workers drop coverage resulting in a smaller, sicker pool. Legislation which bans discriminatory practices will further increase premiums and hasten the death spiral.

I suggest that PNHP and other organizations support disinvestment in companies which are on an unsustainable path. A precedent exists for pension fund managers to do this: In 2002, CALPERS embarked on a series of “socially responsible” investment boycotts starting with Asian companies which violated guidelines on human rights and labor standards. Also targeted were companies like Disney, Safeway, the New York Stock Exchange, and health maintenance organizations.

We could begin with encouraging PNHP members to purge their personal portfolios of health insurance companies; I have already done so. I intend to approach the STRS board with a request to divest from companies likely to see a sharp stock price reduction. Money talks.

From Alice Faryna M.D.

At a presentation to Concerned Ohio Retired Educators on March 17th, I used Paul Krugman’s recent article on the “death spiral” of for profit insurance industry to call on pension plans to divest from this industry. This is the latest financial bubble and is unsustainable. Private insurance is headed for the cliff. We should give it a push. We will take this proposal to State Teachers Retirement Board next.

On Monday, January 11th, over 1,000 people rallied for California Single Payer on the steps of the Sacramento Capitol building. Following the rally, 500 health professional students from over 20 different California campuses, and ten different professional programs held over 90 legislative meetings. Through their efforts, state single-payer gained at least 3 additional co-authorships and a fresh cohort of legislators and staffers were educated in the midst of a pessimistic national debate.

The event was preceded by a six-hour training day on top of 8-hour bus rides for half of the students who left Southern California at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning. The two-day CaHPSA “Lobby Day” event was itself preceded by over 10 statewide conference calls, two regional conferences (with many days of preparation each), multiple press releases from the student media team, one leadership conference, and countless hours of work from local campus student teams including speakers’ series and fundraising drives. The event will be followed-up by selecting statewide student leaders, and campus student teams; by holding regional and campus training workshops; and by continuing to build partnerships with pro-single payer organizations and in key legislative offices through, with a little luck, summer student internships.

All of this should be seen as a phenomenal success, especially considering that it is 100% student run and that the students receive little if any support for their activities. So how can we explain such success amidst an unfriendly environment and when reform at the national level is struggling so dismally? And how can this success be replicated in other states? Two words: Enthusiasm and Organization.

Let’s start with enthusiasm. No one can go to CaHPSA Lobby Day and not come down with a case of infectious enthusiasm. Students sit through hours of preparation and vigorously engage in discussions with often unfriendly opponents of healthcare reform and come away more excited than ever. Young health professionals, with little or no previous exposure to any policy, effectively engage in the democratic process and come out the other end ready for more.

How does this happen? The first step is building enthusiasm at the campus level to get people to the event. This is usually a process of having strong single-payer speakers visit each campus at least once, with follow-up and endorsement from well regarded local student leaders. The leaders get involved because they have real control over the event and input into the formation of the activities. The final push to register students for the lobby day builds on this foundation and is often a combination of blast emails and appeals to friends and social networks. Once at the CaHPSA Lobby Day, the enthusiasm continues because the training day speakers are engaging, the community supporters at the rally are boisterous, and we have an unlimited supply of coffee. And most importantly, learning that you can actively engage in the democratic process is fun! And being well prepared with a group of your peers beforehand to knock down the arguments of your opponents feels great! (This should be seen in contrast to events that are not student led, where students play a secondary role in joint student-physician teams, or where the students feel poorly prepared, or discouraged by not having autonomy over their student group.) By being empowered to make decisions, we are learning that our actions today make a difference tomorrow.

Equally important to enthusiasm is organization. Lobby Day would not be possible without active campus teams and statewide coordination. And of these two, some form of active campus leadership/organization is especially important. In fact, on campuses where we are unable to establish a team or at least a first contact, we often lose the participation of the entire campus even if our event makes it to their local listserv. Over the past couple of years, the existing infrastructure of AMSA campus chapters has been key to our success, but as we try to continually expand beyond the medical student population to other health professional students and students in general, a new form of organization is emerging: CaHPSA, or the California Health Professional Student Alliance. Because we are “campus-based,” CaHPSA ties into the fundamental unit of identity for most students: the on-campus community.

A final essential component of our organization’s success has been community partnership. California Chapter of PNHP, the California Physicians’ Alliance, California School Employee’s Association, California Nurses Association, California OneCare, California Alliance of Retired Americans, Single Payer Now!, and others have been essential community partners both helping us with material supplies and cheering us on at the CaHPSA Lobby Day Rally. As we continue to grow our organization it will be crucial to maintain and further develop organizational partnerships with community partners who each bring their own high levels of enthusiasm and strong sense of organizational identity.

Lessons learned? Incredible success is possible by mobilizing students. And two keys to this success are enthusiasm and organization.

Educate. Advocate. Grow.

My overall impression was this was an enormously successful and impressive showing for Pennsylvania state single payer. Yes, I may be biased, but our four panelists did a superb job in explaining the Family and Business Health Security Act. To explain why I say this, consider the concluding remarks of Senator Don White, Republican Chair of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. First, Senator White offered that “there were those who said I should not have this hearing” — a clear rebuke of the fearful during this time of healthcare and economic crisis. Second, whereas in his opening comments he downplayed expectations for the hearing as a “fact-finding session only,” by the end, his praise of the Single Payer presenters was so “positive,” he declared that this opening act was just the beginning of a series of hearings on this most important topic.

The hearing began with Senator White, a former insurance broker, welcoming everyone and inviting Senator Jim Ferlo, the lead sponsor of SB 400, to present some opening thoughts. Ferlo explained the need to look at different approaches rather than be tied to the usual failed insurance model. Among other attributes, he said that the state Single Payer plan would free employers from the onerous burden of skyrocketing health insurance costs by, instead, providing healthcare for everyone at far less cost.

Chuck Pennacchio, Executive Director of Healthcare for all PA spoke next and further explained the particulars of the state-level, Single Payer approach, and how it represents values we can all embrace: freedom, choice, fiscal conservatism, personal responsibility, modeling solutions, constitutional federalism, fair-share taxation, efficiency, transparency, accountability, jobs creation, bureaucratic streamlining, investment and reinvestment, coordinated and comprehensive care, reduced rationing, restored patient-provider relationship, healthy outcomes, tort remedy, end bankruptcy fears, healthcare education, “medical home” data base, and more.

Patricia Eakin, RN from Philadelphia explained that she was a nurse in one of the busiest ERs in Pennsylvania at Temple and that she sees the problems of the lack of insurance on a daily basis. She gave some examples of the problems faced by people who have lack insurance. She noted how her hospital was losing money because they had to spend limited resources on billing personnel, and had to absorb, and/or pass along, financial losses on people without insurance or on Medicaid.

Dwight Michaels, MD, a Republican, and family practice doctor from Gettysburg, spoke about how his experience with private insurance bureaucrats had driven him to support the Single Payer Solution. He said it is increasingly difficult to practice medicine because his five-person practice struggles daily with 20 different insurance plans, all with different rules. This bureaucratic nightmare makes it impossible to spend quality time with his patients because he is forced to justify more and more of his procedures with the insurance carriers. Dr. Michaels’ testimony was a vivid description of the life of a family doctor in a dysfunctional system.

David Steil, a former Republican state legislator and head of a small manufacturing business was another inspired choice. Not only did he know all of the Senators but, as a creative-thinking lawmaker, he broke the stereotype that all Single Payer supporters are lefties. Mr. Steil spoke about how he tries to run a business, but the cost and hassle of health insurance has made his company more vulnerable in an international market where his non-American competitors have far cheaper health costs.

I think this panel worked extremely well. Not only were they excellent speakers, but they spoke from real world experiences, not as paid lobbyists. And two were Republicans which was an added bonus. The committee had many questions, but none were nasty and all seemed genuinely interested in the real world experiences of the panelists. And the room was packed with 90% supporters of SB 400. I don’t think this was lost on the committee.

The opposing panel were all known lobbyists for their respective interest groups. They gave the usual refrain of condemning single payer.

NFIB speaker – he simply declared that small businesses don’t want Single Payer, but admitted that healthcare costs are the number one concern of businesses. They want the same outcomes that only Single Payer provides. But since that involves “government bureaucracy,” it cannot possibly work.

PA Medical Society – wants tort reform but not Single Payer because it would be too powerful in controlling reimbursements (and costs).

Capitol Blue Cross – gave a confusing talk about the problems with the Washington federal bill and then simply concluded that SB 400 is just like the Washington bill and should be rejected. Of course, nothing in the federal bill even resembles Single Payer, which is why it is so unpopular.

Hospital Association of PA – opposes any government controls generically. Gave a knee-jerk opposition to Single Payer.

Insurance Federation of PA –  same as the hospitals. They oppose Single Payer as “monopolistic” — working from the assumption that the 35-cents-on-the-healthcare-dollar insurance “middle man” is indispensable, and that a little more regulation and industry “innovation” will solve cost issues.

There was not much time for questions but, frankly, they were special interest lobbyists and not a very interesting opposing panel. If this was a debate, the clear winners were the Single Payer SB 400 panel who did a great service in advancing state-level Single Payer today.

WFPL News, December 10, 2009

KY- About ten area residents gathered in Louisville Thursday to voice support for a single-payer health care plan.

Many of the same demonstrators have held similar protests in the last few months. This particular demonstration was one of about 20 held across the country to mark Human Rights Day.

The protestors are unhappy with the compromises many Democrats have made to the current healthcare overhaul proposal. Harriette Sieler is the secretary of Kentuckians for Single-Payer Healthcare.  She says she’s also not happy with the debate surrounding the legislation.

“Right now in Congress they are saying the eligibility age of Medicare to 55,” she says. “I say lower it to zero.”

The group gathered outside of Senator Mitch McConnell’s office downtown.

Dr. Garrett Adams with Physicians for a National Health Program took issue with Senator McConnell’s recent statement that he hasn’t heard from any Kentucky doctors who support the healthcare overhaul.

“Mr. McConnell’s statement is not correct,” he says. “The facts belie his statement that physicians do not support national healthcare, because they do.”

McConnell is among the proposal’s opponents. He says, among other things, the plan would be too expensive.

http://www.wfpl.org/2009/12/10/healthcare-protest-held-outside-mcconnells-office/

With Congress advancing their health reform bills and the President’s vow to improve our health care crisis, I wish I could be hopeful and encouraged. But I’m neither. Instead, I’m dismayed. And listening to my fellow classmates, I’m not alone.

A little over a month ago I stood with 50 other medical students, faculty, and community members in front of Albany Medical College to remember the 45,000 Americans who die each year because they lacked health insurance.

The vigil was called, “Treat! Don’t Trick”, because we stood to ask Congress for reform that will help us treat our future patients, not fool us with hyperbole. I was moved to be a part of the vigil because I am appalled that deaths due to lack of health insurance has more than doubled since 2003.

Ryan McIntyre explained that he wished we could meet to celebrate; however there is not much to celebrate. He is a third year medical student and President of Physicians for a National Health Program student chapter.

“Obama is quoted as saying that if he could start from scratch he would support a single payer system,” Ryan said. “However, instead of starting from there, he started from a compromised position. What if Hippocrates started with a compromised position when he outlined the Hippocratic Oath?”

“For-profit, private insurance has not worked to control costs and cover everyone, and it will not work,” Megan Ash, a first year medical student, told us. “Improved and expanded Medicare for all is the best solution.”

“Health reform is the civil rights movement of our time,” Naazia Husein announced. She is a second year medical student and Co-President of the club Student Perspectives in Advocacy. “A single payer system is not a dream,” Naazia added, “it’s a demand.”

Reverend Harlan E. Ratmeyer, a pastoral care-giver at Albany Medical Center, explained: “The elite group is in the [healthcare coverage] pool, everyone else out of the pool. From the perspective of justice, and the spiritual, economical perspective, we should all be in the pool.”

Other vigil participants spontaneously began telling their stories too. John Wax, a first year medical student talked about how his father, self-employed, only received treatment for his herniated disc because he was a Vietnam Veteran and could get health insurance through the VA.

James Kelley, a first year medical student, shared that his mother was a nurse for 10 years providing health care in a women’s shelter. But when she needed to use her health insurance, she needed to hire an attorney in order to battle insurance claim denials.

The reforms touted on Capitol Hill will not solve these problems. Not even close.

Millions of Americans will still be without health insurance, private insurance companies will continue to deny health care in order to satisfy their stock holders (yes, even if exclusion due to preexisting conditions are unlawful), rapidly increasing health care costs will not be contained and healthcare coverage will still be tied to employment. As future physicians, and from our own life experiences, my classmates and I see that these these are the very things that demand to be changed.

If President Obama wants to be the last president to take up health care reform, then he must reconsider expanding and improving Medicare to include everyone.

Danielle E. Alexander, Albany Medical College Class of 2013, belongs to the American Medical Student Association and Physicians for a National Health Program.