Info on the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Jessica Desvarieux of The Real News talks to Lori Wallach of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch about why the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not about traditional trade regulations such as tariffs, but all about expanding corporate rights and privileges. Learn about the few sections of the TPP that have been leaked to the public, why negotiations and content of the agreement are being kept secret, and what a signed agreement would mean for food safety, internet freedom, drug costs, and other basic components of public health and economic justice.

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What you need to know about health care, health care reform, and real care

Dr. Samuel Metz tackles "the second biggest cause of bar fights in the country"--health care reform. Dr. Metz, who is a founding member of Mad as Hell Doctors and also works with Health Care for All Oregon, presents an easy-to-understand explanation of the health care crisis, the ins and outs of the current reform law, and why a universal single payer system is superior to both our current system and Obamacare, in a three-question, nine-answer format. This special live taping of "Populist Dialogues" was co-sponsored by the Portland (OR) chapter of the League of Women Voters.

If you'd like to share this show on your local community access station, please visit our video page for easy instructions.

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Blockade and balloons protest secretive TPP negotiations in Virginia

From Op-Ed News:
Two people were detained this morning after a tense stand off with police while blockading international trade negotiators from entering the Lansdowne Resort, site of the secretive Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations takingplace this week. Other activists greeted the arriving international negotiators with a 75-foot high banner suspended by weather balloons shaped like giant buttocks that read "Free Trade My Ass: Flush the TPP."

A rapidly growing movement is organizing to oppose the unprecedented lack of transparency surrounding the Obama Administrations handling of the TPP discussions. While 600 corporate lobbyists have been allowed access to and input on the draft texts from the beginning of negotiations three years ago, the public and even members of US Congress have not been allowed to see what is being proposed on their behalf.

"People need to know that the Trans Pacific Partnership is being negotiated in secret to hide the content. The TPP will redefine the terms of trade in ways that give corporations power over nations, makes them unaccountable and threatens the health of people and the future of the planet," said Baltimore native Dr. Margaret Flowers, co-director of ItsOurEconomy.us, as she dangled by a climbing harness 20 feet above the pavement and dozens of agitated police officers and sheriff's deputes. Flowers is a medical doctor and said she was moved to take action in particular because she is concerned about the likelihood that the TPP would increase drug prices by expanding corporate patent rights.

Police responded aggressively at first to the blockade, threatening to taze the metal poles suspending Flowers and to pepper spray the mother of three into compliance. Confused trade negotiators abandoned cars and attempted to walktowards the hotel complex. Stymied by how to safely remove her and open the roadway, police representatives eventually agreed to release Flowers if she lowered herself on her own accord.

Laurel Sutherlin of Rainforest Action Network, one of the organizations supporting this week's demonstrations, said "The TPP is called a 'trade agreement,' but in actuality it is a long-dreamed-of template for implementing a binding system of global corporate governance. It is outrageous that civil disobedience like this is necessary to ensure the public's voice is included in these discussions. The stakes are just too high for the world's environment as well as for farmers, workers and internet freedom for these decisions to be made behind closed doors."

Today's actions follow a colorful rally on Sunday at the same location that was  endorsed by dozens of regional and national environmental, labor and social justice organizations . Members of this diverse coalition, upset by the TPP's complete lack of transparency, have orchestrated a series of demonstrations throughout the week of negotiations.

In 2008, candidate Obama promised that as president he would renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico with new terms favorable to the United States. Now his administration is negotiating one of the largest corporate trade agreements in history, that would outsource jobs, lower wages and undermine environmental, consumer and labor laws.

Many predict the Trans-Pacific Partnership would do even more harm to U.S. employment than NAFTA. The TPP is being negotiated in secret by the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. It contains an  unusual provision, a docking agreement, which allows  other countries to join. This October, Canada and Mexico are expected join the TPP. Later, Japan and China will likely join but it will almost certainly not stop there. The TPP could set the standard for worldwide trade--a major reshuffling of our social contract with almost no public participation.

photo courtesy Rainforest Action Network

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46 and counting: celebrate and protect Medicare

Healthcare-NOW! reminds us that Saturday is the 46th anniversary of Medicare, an opportunity to tell the country how improved Medicare-for-all, and not cuts to health care and the safety net, is the fix for the nation's health care and fiscal crises.

Single payer supporters have organized more than 40 events in 20 states, and Healthcare-NOW! has resources available if you want to organize your own event, including an organizer's toolkit and sample flier. Contact katie@healthcare-now.org for more info.

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AfD National Council member on war, health care, and the central issue of corporate personhood

AfD national council member Rick Staggenborg, MD, who is also founder of Soldiers for Peace International, speaks to Dan Shea, of Veterans for Peace chapter 72 in Portland, OR, about corporate personhood and the sorry state of democracy, especially as it affects veterans.

Rick has formed a new national work group for Veterans for Peace on the abolition of corporate personhood and will ask to introduce a resolution at this year's VFP national convention in Portland, OR calling for an amendment to restore constitutional rights to people. Chapter 72 has scheduled discussion of the issue and the work group at their next meeting.

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Video: Gov. Shumlin signs Vermont single payer bill

Here's remarks by Governor Peter Shumlin, who this morning signed a bill to bring single payer health care to a state where where 40,000 have no coverage and one in four are underinsured. Shumlin thanked everyone who contributed to the passage of the bill, and singled out the state legislature, whose work on the on this bill was "a tribute to democracy in Vermont."

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Live from Montpelier! Gov. Shumlin signs single payer bill

Watch history in the making as Vermont nudges the nation a little closer to an equitable health care system by passing a bill setting their state on the path to single payer health care.

You can watch Governor Peter Shumlin sign the bill into law live and online from the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier. The signing takes place tomorrow, Thursday, May 26, at 9 a.m. eastern, and will be streamed here.

This isn't the end of the fight for single payer in Vermont, though. State agencies have to develop a plan to finance the bill, including setting any co-pays for services, and the scope of coverage and has to be determined as well. The plan also needs a waiver from the Obama administration to go into effect.

Nevertheless, between the state's governor, many legislators, and grassroots activists (especially the Vermont Workers Center and Vermont Health Care for All's Vermont for Single Payer campaign, there's a strong commitment to making this bill work.

It's clear that the biggest steps forward toward health care justice will be taken on the state and city level, where the needs and voices and votes of constituents outweigh the greed of the insurance and health care industry. Vermont's determination to provide the best and most accessible health care for the largest number of its citizens should give us all hope that the other state-level single-payer initiatives will get onto the law books as well. And, of course, if you live in a state with a single payer campaign, get involved!

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Vermont House passes single-payer health care bill

Vermont becomes the first in the nation to take a major step toward institution of a single-payer health care plan with "Green Mountain Care." Establishing single payer was a big part of Governor Peter Shumlin's election campaign.

by Dave Gram, Associated Press. Posted on The Boston Globe March 24

Every Vermonter could sign up for state-financed health insurance under a bill passed by the House on Thursday that would put the state on a path to a single-payer health care system by the middle of this decade.

"This bill takes our state one step closer to a system that ensures that all Vermonters have access to the care they deserve and contains costs," House Speaker Shap Smith said shortly after the House passed the bill 92-49.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to pass, but with some possible changes.

Gov. Peter Shumlin, who made single-payer health care a centerpiece of his gubernatorial campaign last year, also praised the legislation. He said it would make Vermont "the first state in the country to make the first substantive step to deliver a health care system where health care will be a right and not a privilege, where health care will follow the individual, not be a requirement of the employer, and where we'll have an affordable system that contains costs."

Costs are an open question. The bill sets up a five-member state board to design a benefit package to be called Green Mountain Care, but doesn't require the governor to propose a way to pay for it until 2013. That drew fire from minority Republicans in the House, who said the hard part of reform -- paying for it -- won't be tackled until after Shumlin campaigns for a second two-year term in 2012. They also said the bill would create too much uncertainty for businesses in the state.

"Creating a health care system based on theory and campaign promises is not good policy," said House Minority Leader Don Turner, R-Milton.

Rep. Thomas Burditt, R-West Rutland, went further, arguing that government should sharply reduce, not increase, its role in the delivery of health care.
Burditt quoted V.I. Lenin, leader of the Russian Revolution and founder of the Soviet Communist Party, as saying "medicine is the keystone in the arch of socialism," adding, "I believe those who are promoting 'universal coverage' via government-run and government-controlled medicine know this. What they hope is that the public won't find out the truth. There is nothing compassionate about socialism."

That drew a rebuke from Rep. Paul Poirier, I-Barre, a supporter of the bill. "I take offense at the remarks ... that we're socialists, that we're communists," he said. "I ask all members to respect other people's points of view."

Poirier spoke of profit-driven insurance companies denying coverage to people who should have it had coming, and, before Vermont passed laws to bar the practice, "cherry-picking" young and healthy subscribers who would pay into their coffers without being costly to cover.

Despite the Republicans' complaints, majority Democrats largely held together with their leadership to pass the bill. A similar outcome is expected in the Senate, though that chamber's president pro tem, Sen. John Campbell, said members would do their "due diligence" on the bill and might seek some changes.

The bill outlines a four-year timeline leading to establishment of the statewide, publicly funded system. It begins by setting up the Green Mountain Care Board on July 1 with a budget of $1.2 million to begin planning the new system. It then creates a health insurance marketplace -- or "exchange," of the sort required by last year's federal health care legislation. And it then calls for converting the exchange to the Green Mountain Care system.

The Shumlin administration and supporters of the bill need to address numerous uncertainties as the process goes forward. One concerns the more than 100,000 Vermonters who get health coverage from employers who are self-insured, meaning they assume the financial risks of coverage, and are chartered under federal law.

The House defeated a proposed amendment to allow those employers, among them the state's largest, like IBM, to be exempt from paying taxes to support Green Mountain Care. Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, said that would leave them in a similar situation to parents who send their children to private schools, but pay taxes to support public ones.

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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.

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Massachusetts health care reform hasn't stopped medical bankruptcies

According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Medicine, medical-related bankruptcies in Massachusetts haven't fallen, despite that state passing a comprehensive health care reform package, on which the national health care legislation was based.

A selling point for the Obama administration's national reform program was that it would lower the incidence of personal bankruptcy triggered by overwhelming medical bills.

One reason for the lack of decline is the cost of health insurance. The study notes that "the least expensive individual coverage available to a 56-year-old Bostonian carries a premium of $5,616, a deductible of $2,000, and covers only 80 percent of the next $15,000 in costs for covered services.” The cost of health care has been steadily climbing as well. Most medical bankruptcies, now as in the past, affect families who already have insurance, but who are left unable to pay the bills that their insurers won't cover.

You can read more about the study at Healthcare-NOW!s website.

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HR 676, "Expanded and Improved Medicare for All" reintroduced

If your Rep was a sponsor of HR 676, the "Expanded and Improved Medicare for All" bill, it has been reintroduced by Rep. John Conyers. Twenty-eight members of Congress have already signed on--has your's? According to Healthcare-NOW, the bill had 85 cosponsors in the 111th Congress, and has the support of over 17,000 doctors, nurses, organized labor, and many activists across the country.

With new and incumbent reps distancing themselves from last year's health care reform package, is there a chance for headway on this bill? Conyers, in a statement, was optimistic: "To his credit, President Obama stated in his 2011 State of the Union Address that he is open to making changes to the law, so that it can be improved and strengthened. This presents a unique opportunity for supporters of improved Medicare For All to come together and work in a constructive way towards transitioning our for-profit and costly health care system to a high-quality, simple, and cost-effective improved Medicare For All program."

Conyers cited Americans' frustration with the cost of health care and health insurance, and their mistrust of private, for-profit insurers, and noted that that single payer is being seriously considered in some states, most notably Vermont and California.

You can download a .pdf of the bill here. You can download a summary from this page on the Healthcare-Now site.

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Scalia, Thomas, recusals and the best judiciary money can buy

It's hard not to be cynical about the alleged conflicts of interest surrounding Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, based on their relationships with conservative groups and, in Thomas's case, his wife's lobbying activities. What do you expect? Corporations buy politicians; "bought" politicians appoint and approve federal judges. If the corporate elite has "the best government their money can buy," the judiciary is certainly well represented in the toybox.

Nevertheless, it's good to see that this story is sticking, and even moving into the mainstream media and influencing some legislative action. Some members of Congress, for instance, are asking Thomas to recuse himself from any SCOTUS consideration of health care reform, based on his wife's lobbying activities ($700,000 of which went unreported on disclosure forms). You can read a letter to Thomas from Reps. Anthony Weiner, Pete Stark, Frank Pallone Jr. and Christopher Murphy here; some seventy other representatives have also supported the effort.

Meanwhile two groups in particular have questioned Thomas's ties to Citizens United and to an ultraconservative retreat hosted by the Koch brothers.

ProtectOurElections.org filed a bar complaint today alleging Thomas's bias and actual conflict of interest for his failure to disqualify himself from the Citizens United case after Citizens United Foundation supported his nomination and spent at least $100,000 on commercials attacking some senators opposed to it. This is the second bar complaint the group has filed. Video here.

Meanwhile Common Cause has asked for clarification on Thomas's 2008 speaking engagement at a conservative retreat organized by the Koch brothers, and has petitioned the Justice Department to investigate. The New York Times reports that Justice Thomas "reimbursed him an undisclosed amount for four days of 'transportation, meals and accommodations' over the weekend of the retreat," although he earlier described it as a "brief drop-by." Rachel Maddow has also picked up the story, talking to Common Cause president Bob Edgar.

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Portland (OR) presents "Alliance for Democracy--Populist Dialogues"

The Portland Chapter will be screening the first two editions of its new cable TV program, "Alliance for Democracy--Populist Dialogues," in early December. The schedule's at the end of this post.

The half-hour program features David Delk, AfD co-chair and Portland chapter president, as host, with chapter members as crew and tech support.

The first program is on single payer healthcare with one of the Mad As Hell Doctors (Samuel Metz). On the second, Barbara Dudley (former head of Greenpeace USA and National Lawyers Guild and currently co-chair of the Oregon Working Families Party) talks about fusion voting, State Bank of Oregon and Korea Free Trade Agreement.

The program will be on a regular schedule on Portland community access cable starting in January, and will also screen in suburban communities.

If you're not in Portland, you can request a copy of the show to view locally or to screen at your local community access station. The programs will have some content specific to Portland or Oregon but will be general enough to be of interest around the nation.

You can also watch online on the Portland chapter website's Populist Dialogues video page, or on blip.tv. The single payer program with Samuel Metz is here and David talks to Barbara Dudley here.

We are all very excited about this project, so I hope everyone likes them. Your comments are welcome!

Schedule for Barbara Dudley show:

• Thursday 12/2/2010, 8:00 PM, Channel 22
• Monday 12/6/2010, 10:30 PM, Channel 11
• Tuesday 12/7/2010, 7:30 PM, Channel 22
• Wednesday 12/8/2010, 10:00 PM, Channel 23
• Thursday 12/9/2010, 8:00 PM, Channel 23

Schedule for Samuel Metz Single Payer program

• Wednesday 12/1/2010, 7:30 PM, Channel 22
• Friday 12/3/2010, 4:30 PM, Channel 22
• Monday 12/6/2010, 10:00 PM, Channel 11
• Wednesday 12/8/2010, 9:00 PM, Channel 23
• Monday 12/13/2010, 5:00 PM, Channel 23

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New study confirms US health care accessibility trails other nations

The Commonwealth Fund has released an 11-country survey focusing on health care access, cost, and insurance coverage that finds that adults in the US are by far the most likely of the industrial nations surveyed to go without care because of costs, have trouble paying medical bills, encounter high medical bills when insured, or have disputes with insurers or payments denied.

You can access the study here. So far US coverage of the study has been a little spotty. On the other hand, it's hardly news at this point that we pay more and get less health care than citizens of many other nations.

But it's not bad news for everyone--health insurance industry profits are up 41%, prompting outgoing Ways and Means subcommittee chair Rep. Pete Stark to call for the health insurance companies to return the profits to their costumers by reducing the cost of premiums.

Meanwhile, the US's drop to 49th among nations in life expectancy, down from 24th in 1999, also has received scant coverage in the US media.

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Nonbinding referendum on single payer passes in several Massachusetts towns

Thirteen out of fourteen Massachusetts state House districts have voted to approve a referendum calling for a single-payer health insurance plan. The ballot measure was organized by Mass-Care, a statewide coalition of groups in favor of a single payer, Medicare for all system. The last district hasn't totaled up its votes, as of this morning.

The ballot passed in four representative districts that voted for Republican Scott Brown in last year's special Senate election, which was seen as an early referendum on the new federal health care bill.

Massachusetts has its own single-payer bill in the works and the vote on this non-binding referendum will probably result in more state representatives signing on as co-sponsors, according to Mass-Care director Ben Day.

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AfD endorses One Nation Working Together campaign and march

Saturday, October 2, a growing coalition of labor, peace, community development, environment and faith groups will converge on the Mall in Washington, DC for the "One Nation Working Together" march and rally. The march, and local events leading up to it, will promote initiatives aimed at economic recovery and opportunity, ending "endless war" and redirecting defense spending toward social programs. Alliance for Democracy has joined the coalition supporting the march and hopes that our members and supporters will join as well, either by going to DC or taking part in a local action. For more information, check out the One Nation Working Together campaign website, or head to this page on WeGotEd.com, Ed Schultz's website.

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California: Alerts on Water and Health Care

Thanks to all the Californians who took action on Monday's alert and called Assembly speaker John Perez’s office to urge him to bring SB 801, the California Universal Healthcare Act, to the floor for a vote. Sadly, the bill never made it to the Assembly, and is dead for the year. The bill's sponsor is California state senator Mark Leno--Leno's office couldn't say if the bill would be reintroduced.

Today, though, we're asking people to please contact Governor Schwartzenegger and tell him to sign AB 301, a bill which would require bottled water companies to make public how much water they’re removing from the state’s aquifers. This bill passed last year, and was vetoed. Will the Governator, who’s term of office is up in November, side with the people of California and not the bottled water industry? Maybe, but only if the people call! Email through the official site here, or pick up the phone at 916-445-2841 (fax a letter to 916-558-3160). Thank you.

You can follow action by the Alliance and its many water allies in California at DefendingWaterinCalifornia.org.

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"Why I Studied Medicine in Cuba"

The documentary "Why I Studied Medicine in Cuba" will screen Tuesday August 24, 7:00 pm at the Ashland Public Library, Ashland, Massachusetts, as part of the documentary film series sponsored by Friends of the Ashland Public Library and organized by AfD supporter David Whitty.

The film focuses on Dr. Lillian Holloway, who grew up in a rough neighborhood in West Philadelphia and worked as a certified nursing assistant before deciding to study medicine in Cuba. In exchange for a free medical education from the Cuban government, she will return to her impoverished community to enter a residency training program preparing her either for family practice or emergency medicine.

Dr. Holloway spoke recently at the University of Maine about Cuban health care, her experiences and medical education in Cuba, and about opportunities for U.S. students to study at the Latin American School of Medicine. Presently 120 U.S. students are enrolled at the School. She shares the podium with Ellen Bernstein, Associate Director of Pastors for Peace, which recruits students for the Latin American School of Medicine and provides them with administrative support.

Cuban doctors represent their country's medical system in many of the most impoverished parts of the world. For ten years before the earthquake there was a brigade of 350 Cuban doctors dispensing free health care in Haiti. After the earthquake Cuba sent another 650 doctors. Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine prepares new doctors at absolutely no cost to the students, beyond committing to use their skills in underserved communities when they return home. Some 10,000 students study there and 1,500 graduate every year. They come from 30 countries, including eight in Africa.

This 72-minute film will screen in the Community Room, followed by discussion.

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NYC Assistant DA reopens dismissed cases of health care activists, threatens re-arrest

From Healthcare-Now!

Two activists, who were arrested last fall in a peaceful demonstration and subsequently had charges dismissed by a New York judge, are being told their cases will be reopened, and they should turn themselves in to authorities, or risk arrest.

Healthcare Now is asking people to call Manhattan DA Cy Vance to demand that the case against Kate Barnhart and Joan Pleune stay closed, and the judge's decision to dismiss charges against them be allowed to stand. The contact in Vance's office is Erin Duggan, communications director, at (212) 335-9400. When you call, say:

"I'm calling because I'm concerned about ADA Eric Kratzville's decision to re-file charges against healthcare activists Kate Barnhart and Joan Pleune. These activists were already charged, and their cases were dismissed by a judge. The ADA is wasting city resources by pursuing charges against this nonviolent protest. Instead, he should prosecute real criminals, like insurance companies that deny people lifesaving medical treatment. ADA Eric Kratzville should NOT re-file charges against Kate and Joan."

Last fall, Healthcare-NOW! co-founded the Mobilization for Health Care for All campaign. The campaign organized peaceful sit-ins at insurance companies to highlight their deadly practice of putting profits over people, and to demand Medicare for All. More than 200 activists were arrested in more than 20 cities.

In New York City, 17 activists were arrested at Aetna's offices, in the first of four related protests there, resulting in 49 arrests.

The activists were arrested for "criminal trespass" and "obstructing governmental administration" then spent the night in jail. After repeated court dates over six months, all the activists except Kate Barnhart were eventually offered conditional dismissals. Everyone accepted this offer except for Joan Pleune, who opted to stay in the case in solidarity with Kate. Kate alone was asked to plead guilty to a criminal charge and was offered jail time.

The District Attorney's office targeted Kate because of a previous misdemeanor conviction for an anti-war action--despite several other activists also having prior convictions. However, after the activists' attorney Stephen Edwards filed a motion to dismiss Kate's charges on the basis of "facial insufficiency," Judge ShawnDya L. Simpson granted his motion and dismissed all charges on July 19th.

Unbelievably, on July 30th (incidentally Medicare's birthday!), Assistant District Attorney Eric Kratzville informed the activists' attorney that he is planning to re-file "amended charges" against Kate and Joan and that the two of them should either arrange a date to turn themselves in or be re-arrested against their will.

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Health Care for California: Call today to support SB 810, the California Health Security Act, and come to Sacramento on June 29 for the hearing!

Thanks to tireless advocacy by people from across the state, SB 810, the California Health Security Act, will have a hearing on June 29 at 1:30 p.m. in the Assembly Health Committee Room 4202, at the Capitol.

Passage of the bill by Assembly Health is a first step through committees, to the Assembly Floor, and then to the Governor. Let's keep up the fight for health care legislation that will provide universal coverage, broaden benefits, and control costs. SB 810 eliminates health insurance companies in California and sets up a state-run California Healthcare System funded by the money currently going into the private system from federal and state budgets, employers, and tax-payers. SB 810 targets spending to where it's needed: doctors, clinics and other providers, and not to excess overhead and administrative costs. Need to learn more? Click here. And support SB 810 with one or both of these actions:

Call your Assembly member and say you want a Yes vote on SB 810. Voter pressure got the bill this far--let's keep it up until it's law! Please call, fax, write, or email your assembly member, especially if you can't attend the hearing. Get their contact information at www.leginfo.ca.gov.

Attend the hearing. A big turnout is crucial to show the Assembly Health Committee and state government that SB 810 has the people's support. Buses and carpools are leaving from San Francisco, East Bay, Central Valley and Placer County--click here to connect with organizers.

Remember, one in five Californians have no health insurance at all. Fewer employers are providing coverage. Insurance premiums are rising four times as fast as wages. And even with the passage of the national health care bill, millions of Americans will still be uninsured, underinsured, or paying far too much of their incomes for coverage. SB 810 gives California an opportunity to show the country what real health insurance reform looks like. Call to support the bill, and join with others in Sacramento on June 29. Thank you!

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