MassCare annual gala--turn out for a great time and support single payer health care!

If you're near Boston this Saturday, March 26, and up for good music for a good cause, check out Mass-Care's annual single payer gala from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. Tickets are $35 at the door, $10 for students, and a flyer for the event is on the Mass-Care web-site here.

The gala features the music of The Winiker Band--the city's "house band" for swing--and talks by James Haslam, Executive Director of the Vermont Workers Center, speaking on Vermont’s single payer legislation progress, and Gerald Friedman, UMass Economist, reporting his study on the impact of a single payer system for Massachusetts residents and businesses. Mass-Care activists Reverend Judy Deutsh, Matthew Patrick, and Walpole Peace & Justice will be honored.

This year health reform is migrating from the national level to the states, with the exciting news that Vermont is on the brink of passing the first state single payer legislation in the country. Mass-Care and UHCEF along with the help of many allied groups was able to put single payer questions in the ballot in 14 representative districts this past election cycle—winning in all 14 districts. In 2011 the state legislature will take up most cost control, and Mass-Care and UHCEF will play an active role in advocating for single payer as the only truly effective cost control measure, and will support the introduction of a public health insurance option for Massachusetts.