June 24, 2009
Dear PNHP Colleagues,
The health reform debate is reaching a feverish pitch, and while it's been gratifying to see the single-payer alternative winning a higher profile in Congress and the mass media (see summary with links, below), we clearly have much more work to do to keep up the momentum.
Today, Drs. Quentin Young and Steffie Woolhandler testified in Congress in support of single payer before the important House Ways and Means, and the Energy and Commerce Committees, respectively. Interestingly, a former Cigna executive, Wendell Potter, also testified on the Hill today, noting the industry's pernicious influence on the health care debate and even mentioning single payer.
In recent weeks several other PNHPers have testified on the Hill as well, either before official committees (Dr. Margaret Flowers, Dr. Walter Tsou, Dr. Marcia Angell) or to important groups, such as the Blue Dogs (Dr. Rob Stone) and Progressive Caucus (Dr. Deb Richter, Nick Skala). The growing grassroots pressure for single payer and last month's dignified acts of civil disobedience before the Senate Finance Committee are having an impact!
Our media reach has also widened, including recent interviews of PNHP spokespeople on Bill Moyers Journal, FOX News, CNN, and Democracy Now. 43 physicians joined PNHP online the weekend after the Moyers program. PNHPers have also been featured in interviews, letters, and op-eds in the New York Times, Business Week, Reuters, Time, Washington Post, Capital Times (Madison, Wis.) and Boston Globe, to name a few.
An interview with Dr. Woolhandler in Monday's Boston Globe is reprinted below, along with Dr. Quentin Young's testimony today. Stay tuned for an appearance by a PNHP member on the Colbert show!
What you can do:
- Meet with your congresspersons in their home district, or if you can, travel to Washington, D.C., in July to urge your representative and senator(s) to sign on to H.R. 676 and S. 703. Contact Dr. Margaret Flowers at nose1@aol.com with your anticipated dates of availability if you're able to join her in walking the Halls of Congress for single payer this summer. For lobbying materials, see www.pnhp.org/change.
- Sign and help circulate the Open Letter from Physicians to President Obama urging him to endorse single payer as the only practicable way to attain universal, comprehensive coverage at an affordable price.
- Speak up in your local media through op-eds and letters to the editor, and offering to be interviewed on health care reform by local radio and television stations. See, for example, this letter from Dr. Edwin Stickney, past president of the Montana Medical Association. If you need help reaching your local media, please contact us.
Summary of recent developments:
Congressional:
Seven more Representatives have endorsed HR 676, bringing total to 83
PNHPers on the Hill:
Dr. Steffie Woolhandler 6/24/09, Education and Commerce health subcommittee (link)
Dr. Quentin Young testimony 6/24/09, House Ways and Means (link)
Dr. Margaret Flowers, Senate HELP, 6/11/09 (link to testimony and interview link)
Nick Skala's talk to the Progressive Caucus, 6/04/09 (link)
Dr. Deb Richter, Congressional Briefing, 6/10/09 (link to video)
Drs. Walter Tsou, Marcia Angell (House testimony) 6/10/09
Russell Mokhiber, Single Payer Action, did this very nice interview with Margaret Flowers, 6/11/09 (link)
Dr. Rob Stone (closed-door meeting with Blue Dog health committee) 6/8/09
PNHP Media Highlights
Fox News, Dr. Claudia Fegan, 6/18/09 (link)
Capital Times (Madison, WI) editorial for single payer, 6/10/09 (below)
New York Times article by Robert Pear citing PNHP, 6/10/09 (link)
Washington Post letter by Dr. Jerry Earll, 6/10/09 (link)
Washington Post letter by Dr. James Floyd, 6/17/09 (link)
Democracy Now interview with Dr. Quentin Young, 6/16/09 (link)
Chicago Tribune quotes PNHP member Dr. Peter Orris on physician support for single payer, 6/14/09 (link)
Arizona Daily Star, Dr. Charles Katzenberger, op-ed for single payer, 6/09/09 (below)
Des Moines Register Op-ed, Dr. Jess Fiedorowicz, 6/07/09 (link)
Great Falls Tribune, MT, 6/9/09 (below)
New York Times blog, Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler; Doctors' Pay, a Key to Health Care Reform: End Insurance's Bad Incentives, 6/19/09 (below)
Editorial Board meeting, Kaiser Health News (upcoming)
Editorial Board meeting, Albany Times (completed, successfull)
PNHP Press Release on medical bankruptcy (link)
Additional medical bankruptcy coverage in the following places (U.S. News and World Report, BusinessWeek, Reuters)
Time Magazine's coverage of insurance company holdings in tobacco study (link)
PNHP Press Release on Insurance Industry Holdings of Tobacco Firm Stock (link)
PNHP Press Advisory on Blue Dogs, 6/8/09 (link)
PNHP Presss Advisory on House Testimony, 6/24/09 (link)
Other Media:
Mike Dennison on Sen. Baucus campaign cash, Montana Standard, Butte (below)
LA Times' Lisa Girion on "fear of single payer" driving private insurers to support health reform this year, particularly individual mandate (link)
Bill Moyers' endorsement of single payer (link)
Action:
Endorse the "Open letter to Obama to support single payer" (link)
Lobby for single payer HR 676 and S. 703 (lobbying materials at www.pnhp.org/change)
Petition for Single Payer by Rep. Bernie Sanders, Vermont (link)