Tuesday, March 6, 2007
In this Washington CAN! e-newsletter, you will find:
- Send a St. Patrick’s Day message: Health care shouldn’t
be a matter of luck
- Health Justice in Action: Friday, March 16
- Secure Health Care Campaign Update
· “Call-In Sick Day” focuses
attention on the uninsured
· Health Insurance
Partnership
· Seattle Cancer Patient lobbies
for insurance reform
1. Send a St. Patrick’s Day message: Health care shouldn’t be a matter of luck
It just so happens that on St. Patrick’s Day – Saturday, March 17th – many legislators are hosting town hall meetings back at home in their districts. Will you join us in telling lawmakers that our health care shouldn’t be a matter of luck?
Visit our website to find out when and where your legislators are hosting a town hall.
You can also find sample questions to ask on health care.
Let us know if you plan to attend a town hall meeting.
…because you shouldn’t have to find a pot of gold at
the end of the rainbow to afford health care.
(Some town hall
meetings are not St. Patrick’s Day and some legislators aren’t hosting town
hall meetings. Check our website
for details in your district.)
You don’t have to wait for a town hall to make your voice heard! We’re calling on legislators to restore
funding for Basic Health – the popular state health program that provides
sliding scale coverage to
Contact your legislators
today!
Message: Restore 20,000 Basic Health slots.
1-800-562-6000
http://action.washingtoncan.org
2. Health Justice in Action: Friday, March 16
"Health
Justice in Action"
Friday, March
16th, 7pm
With special guests:
- Dr. Quentin Young,
- Congressman Jim McDermott, and
- Representative Sherry Appleton.
University of
Washington Campus
Kane Hall Room
120
Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.pnhpwesternwashington.org
Without a doubt, Quentin Young is one of the most revered figures in health rights and justice in the US today. He marched in the civil rights movement, was personal physician to Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson, Co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), Past President of American Public Health Association and PNHP, 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award ACLU, and on and on. His influence has affected two generations of physicians and activists.
Take action today for health justice! We’re calling on legislators to restore
funding for Basic Health – the popular state health program that provides
sliding scale coverage to
Contact your legislators
today!
Message: Restore 20,000 Basic Health slots.
1-800-562-6000
http://action.washingtoncan.org
3. Secure Health Care Campaign Update
“Call-In Sick Day” focuses attention on the uninsured
Last Tuesday, Washington CAN! activists converged on
Our members delivered every legislator a new report – The
Reality of Washington’s Uninsured. The new report debunks myths and offers
compelling facts about the uninsured. We
also offer timely recommendations for providing secure, affordable health care
for all Washington residents. It’s a
“Must-Have” for policy makers and health care activists in Washington!
Download
the report here. Also, check out The Olympian’s coverage
of our “Call-In Sick Day” rally at the Capitol!
Last week, legislators watered down Washington CAN! backed insurance reform legislation (HB 1569). The original legislation would have created a common health care purchasing pool for individuals, small businesses, association health plan participants, state employees and Basic Health enrollees.
Washington CAN! supports the creation of a broad health care pool of this kind to accomplish the goals of 1) ending insurance industry discrimination and 2) making quality health care affordable for individuals and small businesses. By creating a common health care pool, businesses, the state, and individuals can share in responsibility for health care. Such a partnership would gaurantee access regardless of health status or pre-existing condition and offer sliding scale assistance to low-income Washingtonians.
But, in an agreement hammered out last week between the bill’s sponsor and Chair of the House Health Care Committee (Rep. Eileen Cody) and the ranking Republican on the committee (Rep. Bill Hinkle), the current legislation severely limits the size of the pool, now called the "Washington Health Insurance Partnership." The Health Insurance Partnership would initially only be available to small employers providing small group coverage, leaving open the possibility to later broaden the pool and achieve greater participation.
The compromise bill passed out of the House Appropriations committee this weekend.Health care activists should view the current version of HB 1569
as a work in progress - a foundation upon which to build broader
reform. Washington CAN! supports the creation of a Secure
Health Insurance Partnership, even as we are fighting to expand the
pool to
guarantee access to quality health care for everyone in the state.
You can read more about the Health Insurance
Partnership in an extensive
article in last week’s Seattle Times featuring Washington CAN! member Mike
Burchett.
In Lakewood,
Pierce County, small-business owner Mike Burchett says the state Partnership
makes sense: Bigger insurance pools lower costs for everyone in it.
Also, Northwest Public
Radio featured testimony from Washington CAN! member Kent Davis at a public
hearing last Thursday on the legislation.
Cancer patient lobbies for Insurance Reform
Last week we told you about Washington CAN! member,
Jeanne Sather, a
On Friday, KING 5 TV followed Jeanne to Olympia as she
testified before the Senate Ways & Means Committee. Watch
the coverage here!
Take action today! We’re calling on legislators to restore funding
for Basic Health – the popular state health program that provides sliding scale
coverage to
Contact your legislators
today!
Message: Restore 20,000 Basic Health slots.
1-800-562-6000
http://action.washingtoncan.org
With
over 30,000 members across the state, Washington CAN! is the
state’s largest grassroots community organization. Washington CAN! fights
for progressive social change at the local, state, and national levels, with a
focus on issues that most directly affect the lives of Washington residents.
Our mission is to achieve economic fairness in order to establish a democratic
society characterized by racial and social justice, with respect for diversity,
and a decent quality of life for those who reside in Washington State. www.WashingtonCAN.org
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