Thursday January 15

NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY FOR HR 676 – MEDICARE FOR ALL

Thousands of calls to Congress in support of HR 676! Targeting the Washington DC offices. They especially need to hear from us again and again that the Massachusetts reform is unaffordable and unsustainable and will never come close to covering everyone.

Call John Olver at 202-225-5335. He is a cosponsor of HR 676. Thank him!

Call Richard Neal at 202-225-8112. He is not yet a cosponsor and sits on the powerful Ways & Means Committee.

Call John Kerry at 202-224-2742.

Call Ted Kennedy at 202-224-4543. According to a letter he sent in response to a request to support HR 676, he stated "In recent weeks I have been working on legislation that will have bipartisan support and guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans and their families."  We need to let him know that the only way to achieve this is by implementing single-payer national health care for all. He is a powerful force for reform who needs to be convinced that the people want single payer and not a Massachusetts style reform.

            They all need to be encouraged to attend the briefing on HR 676 on January 28, 3-5pm, in the halls of Congress. The briefing will allow elected officials to learn about the economic impact a single-payer system will have in an economic recovery package. In August of 2005, the National Coalition on Health Care found in a fiscal analysis of health care reform that "the single payer model would reduce costs by over $1.1 trillion over the next decade while providing comprehensive benefits to all Americans." Single-payer is the only reform proposal that can claim cost savings and comprehensive health care for all.

            Info: Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare, info@healthcare-now.org. 

 

Thursday January 15

DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE: THE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SYSTEM

7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307; odysseybks@aol.com; www.odysseybks.com (www.odysseybks.com/directions.html). Patrice Woeppel will read from and sign her new book, Depraved Indifference: the Workers’ Compensation System.

Every eight minutes in America, someone dies from a work injury or illness - more deaths than from most diseases. Depraved Indifference dissects a system that destroys the health and life of workers without fear of prosecution, or even public outcry, while throwing the preponderance of costs onto families and taxpayers. The stories in Depraved Indifference are the stories of ordinary people. Discarded and forgotten by their employers, denied medical coverage by the workers’ compensation insurer; many have been left to die, slowly and agonizingly, unnoticed by all but their grieving families. Depraved Indifference represents over five years of research and interviews. The final chapter lays out recommendations and strategies for action to bring justice and fairness, corporate accountability, and public disclosure to this system. Info: www.patricewoeppel.us.  

 

Tuesday January 20

FRANKLIN/HAMPSHIRE HEALTH CARE COALITION

7pm, Lathrop Village Community Room, Shallow Brook Drive, off Bridge Rd, Northampton. Organizing for the Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund Bill - a universal health care system, providing universal access, a comprehensive range of physical and mental health benefits, choice of provider, quality, unified financing and cost controls, accountable governance, and stability. A Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund will be a "single-payer" of all health care costs, statewide. Also organizing for the national alternative to state action: Medicare for All – HR 676. Info: info@fhhcc.org.

 

Please visit www.masscare.org and www.healthcare-now.org.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email to wmjwj@wmjwj.org with a Subject of "Unsub Health Care Action".

[Health Care Action] posts events and information that support the large and vibrant Western Mass. movement for health care justice. Nationwide, Jobs with Justice (www.jwj.org) has prioritized Health Care as a basic human right. To subscribe, send an email to wmjwj@wmjwj.org with a Subject of "Subscribe Health Care Action".

Western Mass Jobs with Justice
640 Page Blvd #101
Springfield MA 01104
(413) 827-0301