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Kitchen Table Campaign: Surprise Billing

During each of the first six months of 2020, PNHP will focus on a specific, concrete “kitchen table” issue that requires fundamental reform (like single payer), not minor tweaks (like a public option). See below for materials related to January’s issue, surprise billing, and scroll to the bottom for a list of additional topics.

Surprise medical bills (January 2020)

More than half of Americans say they’ve been hit with a ā€œsurpriseā€ medical bill that they thought would have been covered by insurance. These bills are more than just an inconvenience; they can stretch family budgets to the breaking point and the fear of surprise medical bills can cause patients to avoid seeking care in the first place.

We encourage you to share the materials below with your colleagues, family members, friends, and neighbors during the month of January to remind them that surprise billing is a kitchen table issue…and Medicare for All is the only real solution.

Complete surprise billing toolkit

  • One-page handout: Overview of surprise billing
  • Comparison chart: Medicare for All vs. public option
  • PowerPoint slides: An end to surprise medical bills
  • Newspaper outreach: Sample op-ed and letters-to-the-editor
  • Radio outreach: Talk radio call-in scripts
  • Organizing toolkit: Send a surprise bill to your member of Congress
  • Social media: Share on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram
  • Video: Dr. Farzon Nahvi on surprise billing
  • Podcast: Dr. Mark Krasnoff on surprise billing
  • Webinar: Dr. Mark Krasnoff answers member questions

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 Strategy Committee co-coordinator Dr. Ed Weisbart at pnhpmo@gmail.com.

Video: Dr. Farzon Nahvi on surprise billing

Podcast: Dr. Mark Krasnoff on surprise billing

Webinar: Dr. Mark Krasnoff answers member questions

Member writing

  • “Protecting Americans from surprise medical costs” by Ed Weisbart, M.D., St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 8, 2020
  • “We have a way to get rid of these surprise medical bills” by George Bohmfalk, M.D., The Aspen (Colo.) Times, March 3, 2020
  • “Insurance networks have to go” by Valerie Domenici, Ph.D., The Sentinel (Carlisle, Penn.), Letters, January 8, 2020
  • “Medicare for All plan would cover all Americans and is a way forward” by Kathleen Fagan, M.D., M.P.H., TCPalm (Stuart, Fla.), Letters, January 8, 2020
  • “The answer to surprise medical billing is Medicare for All” by Johnathon Ross, M.D., M.P.H., The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, Letters, January 15, 2020
  • “This is why I prescribe Medicare for All” by Joan A. MacEachen, M.D., M.P.H., The Journal (Cortez, Colo.), Letters, January 16, 2020
  • “Universal health care the cure for medical billing disorders” by Eric Naumburg, M.D., M.P.H., The Baltimore Sun, Letters, March 2, 2020

Future topics

Stay tuned for additional topics throughout the first half of 2020:

  • Surprise billing (January)
  • Racial health inequities (February)
  • Rural health (March)
  • Substance abuse and opiods (April)
  • Maternal and reproductive health (May)
  • High drug prices (June)

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  • About PNHP
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  • About Single Payer
    • What is Single Payer?
      • Policy Details
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      • Información en EspaƱol
    • How do we pay for it?
    • Physicians’ Proposal
      • Full Proposal
      • Supplemental Materials
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