Thursday, April 30, 2009

Does your Senator sit on the Finance Committee? Call tomorrow--May 1--to get single payer on the agenda

The Senate Finance Committee has begun to hold "roundtables" on health care. The first was held last week, there will be another on Tuesday, May 5, with the final roundtable covering health care financing on Thursday, May 14. Since single payer is the most economical way to finance an accessible health care system doesn't it make sense to have a single payer expert witness on the roundtable panel?

If your senator sits on this committee, please give him or her a call and ask that a single payer expert be invited to participate. Single payer groups in Florida are already organizing call-ins to Senator Bill Nelson, and New Yorkers are pushing Sen. Schumer. Join them! Physicians for a National Health Program’s Dr. David Himmelstein recently addressed the House Ways and Means Committee’s subcommittee hearing on health care reform, after call-ins targeted Rep. Charles Rangel—these calls get results!

Finance Committee members and a phone script at the "Read More" link!
Here's the committee members:

  • Bill Nelson, Florida
  • Max Baucus, Montana
  • John D. Rockefeller IV, West Virginia
  • Kent Conrad, North Dakota
  • Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico
  • John F. Kerry, Massachusetts
  • Blanche L. Lincoln, Arkansas
  • Arron Wyden, Oregon
  • Charles E. Schumer, New York
  • Debbie Stabenow, Michigan
  • Maria Cantwell, Washington
  • Robert Menendez, New Jersey
  • and Thomas Carper, Delaware
Fax and phone info is available at www.senate.gov

Here's a script suggested by Floridians for Health Care:

President Obama has declared that in the effort to reform our health care system, “every voice has to be heard. Every idea must be considered. Every option must be on the table. There should be no sacred cows.”

For the upcoming May 14 Finance Committee roundtable on health care financing, I am calling to urge (your senator) to use his/her influence as a Committee Member to insure that an expert witness on the benefits of a Single Payer (Medicare-for-all) financing system be included on the agenda. Every study on the issue of health care financing has shown that a single payer system would be the most cost effective and efficient method of insuring universal health care to all Americans. I recommend such experts as Dr. David Himmelstein, Cambridge, Mass., or Dr. Marcia Angell, Harvard Medical School.

Whatever system is ultimately adopted, Congress owes it to the American people to follow President Obama’s mandate to consider all options - single payer should not be off the table.

Post a comment if you make a call--we want to hear what feedback you got, and remember, your actions can encourage others to act too!

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