– By Naomi Shaiken, CT Call to Action

This summer has been a busy one, both in Connecticut and nationally.  In Connecticut, the Sustinet bill is awaiting further approval from our state legislature and governor.  It has no price tag on it, nor has it fully disclosed who would be eligible and how they would sign up for it.  Much needs to be done before we can call it a health care bill that would cover the over 350,000 people, including children, who have no health insurance or are underinsured.  We are waiting final action before we can say Connecticut offers Health Care For Everyone.

At the federal level we have no bill, just lots of fighting, arguing, and open hostility at every meeting across the country.  Most unfortunate is that no Connecticut  Congressperson has signed on to any plan, except for Joe Lieberman, who has said he is totally against expanding Medicare and against any national health care plan.

Cooperative Health Care plans exist in several states but are not covered by any federal funds.  They are funded by individuals, including small businesses. They are not public plans; they are covered by some insurance companies and individuals who sign up at lower prices.  They are run by Boards of Directors consisting of members, doctors, nurses, hospitals, and insurance companies.  They are considered integrated care and run on purchasing pools, set by their individual Boards of Directors.

We seem to have lost sight of our push for Medicare for All. Many people have been intimidated with the raucous meetings that have been held across the country during this past month. Most meetings have been uncivilized, calling healthcare legislation socialized medicine, totally forgetting that we already have socialized medicine covering American Indian Tribes, our VA Medical Centers, Medicare and Medicaid.  Question: do you consider what these groups receive to be Socialized Medical Care?  Please email your responses to: alneshaiken@snet.net.

A majority want a national health plan, Medicare For All.  We need to hear from everyone in the state, to build pressure at the local, state and federal levels to get a comprehensive plan that covers everyone.

– By Mary Johnson, CFP

The Coalition for People (CFP), like many other groups and individuals, has been watching, with increasing horror, the healthcare “debate” taking place in Congress, the White House and town meetings. Record-breaking amounts of money have already been spent to promote lies about “public options” and to suppress any mention of single payer healthcare.

CFP members are angry and hope PAR readers are, too. When you are angry, you are no longer paralyzed by horror. You can take action. CFP urges you, and everyone you know, to contact Senators Dodd and Lieberman and Representative DeLauro (see p. 1 for telephone numbers).

Tell them you want and need universal, comprehensive, single payer healthcare for yourself and everyone living in the U.S.A. Many politicians hope their constituents do not understand single payer plans, so they can justify their rejection of the concept with myths like “disruptive,” “government run,” “rationing” and “long waiting periods.” So it is very important to let them know that you do understand as follows:

Universal healthcare means that everyone living in the U.S.A. must have the same high-quality healthcare, pre-natal to end of life. It must be comprehensive, which means it should provide all medically necessary care. Finally, instead of the hundreds of insurance companies currently involved, there would be only one, the government. Administrative costs would drop from 30 percent to about 4 percent; there would be no co-pays or bills and many trees would be saved.

As Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” The only way we can overcome the influence of money is by demanding what we want, in great numbers.

Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.