"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

HOLD OUT FOR SINGLE-PAYER! 

See Video of June 10th

Single-Payer Hearing in Washington 

If you missed the May 22nd broadcast of Bill Moyers Journal on PBS titled "Our Broken Health Care System," click here to view his eye-opening interview with Drs. David Himmelstein and Sidney Wolfe.  Click here to view his equally enlightening interview with Donna Smith of the California Nurses Association.

UPDATE: Single-Payer Bill Re-Introduced in Ohio House in 2009

URGE YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE TO SUPPORT THIS BILL!

For each new session of the General Assembly, bills introduced in previous sessions which have not been acted upon must be reintroduced if action by the new Assembly is desired.

Accordingly, on April 29, 2009 State Representatives Michael Skindell and Robert Hagan jointly reintroduced the Health Care For All Ohioans Act (HCFAOA) in the House of Representatives (H.B. 159).

Co-sponsors of H.B. 159 are:  Barbara Boyd, Edna Brown, Michael DeBose, John Domenick, Mike Foley, Marian Harris, Sandra Stabile Harwood, Joseph Koziura, Tom Letson, Clayton Luckie, Dale Mallory, Peter Ujvagi, W. Carlton Weddington, Sandra Williams, and Kenny Yuko.

If you don’t see your state representative listed above, we urge you to phone, write or email him or her asking for their support of this bill. (If you DO see your representative listed, let him or her know you appreciate their support.)

If you don't know who your state representative is, click Find Legislator by Zip Code which will take you to a page where all you need do is fill in your zip code to be taken to page that shows who your State Representative is. Click on his/her name to go to a page showing how to reach him or her.

IMPORTANT NOTE: 

ADDITIONAL ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE

Members of the HealthCare Access and Affordability Committee, shown in the table below, should be urged to include single-payer in their deliberations.

PBS Report Shows Universal Health Care Systems Working Abroad
A "Frontline" report on PBS examines the universal health care plans of five countries--Britain, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland--and shows that in each country "insurance premiums are significantly lower than those in America (in Britain there are none), and the waiting time to see a doctor is either tolerable (in Britain) or nonexistent," reports the New York Times.

See Toledo City Paper cover story featuring Dr. Johnathon Ross, practicing physician and member of SPAN Ohio State Council.

Private card, huge deductible? No way

Don't be fooled by all the politicians claiming to support "universal" health care. If you read the fine print, most of their proposals dictate that everyone should buy a private health care card. What good is your card if it commits you to a $5,000 deductible and 50 percent co-pay before you receive any of your (limited) benefits?

We should reject a mandate that everyone must contribute to the coffers of the big insurance corporations. No, thanks. That sort of "universal" plan could mainly bankrupt the middle class and further enrich the private insurance manipulators.

We need a universal plan that is compassionate and sustainable.

The clearest way is to eliminate the role of for-profit insurance companies. Having been practicing medicine for 35 years, after seeing "Sicko" I'm convinced we need (and will eventually demand) a single payer, universal, health insurance system.

Thanks, Michael Moore, for pointing the way.

HENRY S. KAHN
Kahn is emeritus professor of family and preventive medicine at Emory University School of Medicine