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Our Goal: Lifetime Comprehensive Health Care for ALL
Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to live under the laws of justice and mercy. ---Wendell Berry
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.
URGENT ACTION ALERT!
Gov. Strickland has assembled a task force comprising a State Coverage Initiative Team of 12 and a Healthcare Coverage Initiative Advisory Committee of 40. $500,000 tax dollars have been allocated to study health care options — the goal being to cover a third of Ohio’s 1.5 million uninsured. What about the other two-thirds? And what about the additional millions of underinsured?
Incredibly, single-payer — the only plan that would help ALL Ohioans, uninsured and underinsured alike — will NOT be included among the plans to be studied. Only plans that include the private insurance companies are being considered. This is unacceptable. (See letter from U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich to Governor Strickland urging inclusion of single-payer in the study.)
Please take Action NOW
1) Contact Governor Ted Strickland
Governor's Office
Riffe Center, 30th Floor
77 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215-6108
Contact the Governor Online
2) Contact Governor Strickland's Policy Director Janetta King
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Phone: 614-466-3555
3) Go to the Governor's Public Input Request Site
Tell them that as an Ohio constituent, you want a single-payer plan (H.B.186 and S.B. 168) to be one of the five models studied by the Governor's task force for healthcare reform in Ohio.
Talking points:
- Single-payer is the only plan that will provide guaranteed, quality, comprehensive medical and dental care to EVERY Ohioan.
- A single-payer system is the most fiscally conservative. Ohio H.B.186 and its companion bill in the Senate, S.B.168, i.e., the Health Care For All Ohioans Act, would save more than $11 billion in health care costs.
- Commissioned studies were done in Colorado and California by the highly regarded Lewin group. Single-payer was included as a model. They concluded that single-payer will, "cover more people, for more services, for less money."
- Plans being considered by the State Coverage Initiative Team of 12 have been tried in other states and have failed miserably, resulting in an increase in the number of uninsured. It is a disservice to the people of Ohio not to include a single-payer model.
- The people of Ohio insist that a single-payer plan be considered in the comparative analysis done by our governor, for Ohioans, with our tax dollars.
If you would like to do more, contact one or more of the members of the Healthcare Coverage Initiative Advisory Committee. It would also be helpful for you to contact your State Representative and your State Senator to express your support for H.B.186 and S.B.168.
If you send an email to any of the above, please CC:
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and let us know what response, if any, you receive.
Thank you for taking the time to take action!
Click here for HIGHLIGHTS OF THE
HEALTH CARE FOR ALL OHIOANS ACT
See Toledo City Paper cover story featuring Dr. Johnathon Ross, practicing physician and member of SPAN Ohio State Council.
See essay on Diversity and Single-Payer Health Care Reform written by Dr. Richard Wyderski, who also serves on SPAN Ohio's 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
See Michael Moore's interview with Jay Leno.
Who We Are
Single-Payer Action Network Ohio (SPAN Ohio) is a coalition of individuals and organizations in Ohio working together to achieve fundamental reform of the health insurance system, first in our state and eventually at the national level, so that every resident is guaranteed full and comprehensive coverage from birth to death. SPAN Ohio is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(4) organization. Contributions to SPAN are not tax deductible.
To join the coalition, please complete the sign-up form, which will add your name to our mailing list and allow us to keep you informed of our progress. Since we are not a membership organization, there is no cost to join. However, voluntary contributions in any amount to help cover the cost of printing and other expenses are greatly appreciated. To make a financial contribution, please CLICK HERE or on the button below.
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