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Kitchen Table Campaign: Public Health Emergencies

Throughout 2020, PNHP will focus on a specific, concrete ā€œkitchen tableā€ issue that requires fundamental reform (like single payer), not minor tweaks (like a public option). See below for materials related to our spring topic, pandemics and public health emergencies, and scroll to the bottom for a list of additional topics.

Public health emergencies (Spring 2020)

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the glaring inadequacies of U.S. health care, as the threat of medical bills deters low-income patients from seeking treatment, our profit-driven delivery system strains to accommodate a surge in demand, and millions stand to lose their employer-provided health coverage. It also shows how badly we need fundamental reform.

We encourage you to share the materials below with your colleagues, family members, friends, and neighbors during the spring of 2020 to remind them that public health emergencies like COVID-19 are a kitchen table issue…and that Medicare for All is a necessary part of the solution.

Complete public health emergencies toolkit

  • One-page handout: Medicare for All and public health emergencies
  • Comparison chart: Medicare for All vs. the status quo
  • PowerPoint slides: Now more than ever we need single-payer Medicare for All (by PNHP-MO chair Dr. Ed Weisbart)
  • PowerPoint slides: COVID capitalism and the fight for health care justice
    and societal transformation (by PNHP co-founder Dr. Steffie Woolhandler)
  • PowerPoint slides: A case for improved and expanded Medicare for All (by PNHP NY Metro fellow and SNaHP leader Rachel Madley)
  • Webinar: Dr. Phil Verhoef on public health emergencies
  • Webinar: Dr. Steffie Woolhandler on COVID capitalism and the fight for health care justice and societal transformation
  • Webinar: Dr. Alan Meyers on Medicare for All in the context of COVID-19
  • Webinar: Dr. Kenneth Engelhart on pandemics throughout history
  • Webinar: Pandemics and single payer (organized by the UC Berkeley-UCSF joint medical program chapter of Students for a National Health Program)
  • Webinar: COVID-19 and the problems with employer-based health care (organized by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health chapter of Students for a National Health Program)
  • Virtual Panel: Prof. Karen Palmer and Dr. Sanjeev Sriram on COVID-19 and the case for Medicare for All (organized by the Medicare for All Congressional Caucus)
  • Organizing toolkit: Telling your story
  • Analysis: ā€œUnprepared for COVID-19: How the Pandemic Makes the Case for Medicare for All,ā€ by Eagan Kemp, Health Care Policy Advocate, Public Citizen
  • Newspaper outreach: Sample letters to the editor
  • Radio outreach: Talk radio call-in scripts
  • Video: Dr. Phil Verhoef on COVID-19 and Medicare for All
  • Podcast: Dr. David Himmelstein on our response to COVID-19
  • Social media: Share on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram

If you need assistance with events or actions, contact the PNHP organizing team at organizer@pnhp.org. For help with messaging materials, contact PNHP communications specialist Clare Fauke at clare@pnhp.org.

If you would like to provide expertise or help develop materials for future Kitchen Table topics, please contact PNHP president-elect Dr. Susan Rogers at s.rogers@pnhp.org.

Video: Dr. Phil Verhoef on COVID-19

Podcast: Dr. David Himmelstein on COVID-19

Webinar: Dr. Phil Verhoef on COVID-19

Webinar: Dr. Steffie Woolhandler on COVID capitalism and the fight for health care justice and societal transformation

Webinar: Dr. Alan Meyers on Medicare for All in the context of COVID-19

Webinar: Overcoming COVID-19: A historical perspective

Webinar: Pandemics and single payer

Webinar: COVID-19 and the problems with employer-based health care

Virtual Panel: Prof. Karen Palmer and Dr. Sanjeev Sriram on COVID-19 and the case for Medicare for All

Twitter discussion forum

PNHP hosted a one-hour COVID-19 Twitter discussion on April 9, 2020, featuring PNHP president Dr. Adam Gaffney, PNHP president-elect Dr. Susan Rogers, and other notable physician and health professional leaders. All questions and responses are all included in the thread below.

Join us TONIGHT at 8pm Eastern as we talk #COVID19 and #MedicareForAll.

(And be sure to follow @awgaffney, @SusanRogersMD1, @DrSriram, @DrDooleyMD, @AugieLindmark, @karenpalmeryvr, and @ThomasJxnMPH if you aren’t already.)#COVID19Response #SinglePayerSavesLives pic.twitter.com/dpfKMv0bDL

— Physicians for a National Health Program (@PNHP) April 9, 2020

Additional topics

Review previous installments of the Kitchen Table Campaign, and stay tuned for additional topics throughout 2020:

    • Surprise billing (January)
    • Racial health inequities (February)
    • Rural health (March)
    • Pandemics and public health emergencies (Spring)
    • COVID-19 and racial health inequities (Spring)
    • COVID-19 endangers health care workers (July)
    • COVID-19 and delays for non-COVID care (future)
    • COVID-19 and unmet mental health needs (future)
    • High drug prices (future)
    • Substance abuse and opioids (future)
    • Maternal and reproductive health (future)

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