Hot News Updates and Issues on Single Payer Health Care
Exclusion of Single Payer Advocates Leads to Arrests and More Pressure to Include It
On This Page . . .
Click on links to go to full story and videos on this page.- PNHP TALKS SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH REFORM ON COLBERT REPORT: TUES., JULY 21 AT 11:30 PM EDT.Watch PNHP's Dr. Aaron Carroll and Colbert tear it up! Worth staying up for this one! Or see it online about 24 hours later on Comedy Central. The show will be online about 24 hours later on Comedy Central and more TV rebroadcasts on July 22, 2009. Details . . .
- LOS ANGELES: SINGLE PAYER MARCH AND RALLY: SATURDAY, JULY 11, 2009 Largest rally yet: March to US Congressman Waxman's Office for Rally, ask for his committee to hold hearings on Single Payer Plan! . . . more
- BILL MOYERS ON SINGLE PAYER – A full hour in the wake of the Baucus US Senate hearings. more . . .
- WHAT'S IN HIS WALLET? Asks MSNBC about US Senator Max Baucus -- who took $183,000 from the industry and $229,000 from Drug Companies in office, according to Federal Elections Commission! See display . . .
- SB 810 DELAY – due to budget frenzy, 810 likely ‘on suspense’ to Jan. 2010. more . . .
- SEATTLE PROTEST: 5/31/2009 – 2500 tell Sen. Murray to oppose Baucus' exclusion of single payer. more . . .
- SEN. MAX BAUCUS HEARINGS -
ROUND 2: MAY 12, 2009
US Senate Finance Committee Hearing: More Single Payer advocates arrested May 12, 2009. Watch Video - BAUCUS'S RAUCOUS CAUCUS
Amy Goodman interviews founder of Single Payer Action on May 13, 2009. Watch Video - PUSH FOR SINGLE PAYER - UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE GROWS
Ed Schultz Show on MSNBC: Guests Mike Farrell, Medved and others, May 2009 - DIANE REHM SHOW: SINGLE PAYER
Single-payer with Dr. Himmelstein and others, May 18, 2009. Hear the show - ED SCHULTZ SHOW ON MSNBC
"Is Single-payer on or off the table?" in US Congress: Physician Leaders Excluded and Arrested: Why? Watch Video - "THE BAUCUS 8"
Single Payer Advocates Arrested at Senate, May 5, 2009. Watch Video - SINGLE PAYER HEALTH ADVOCATES ARRESTED at Senate Health Hearing. Watch Video
PNHP Talks Single-Payer Health Reform on The Colbert Report,
Tuesday, July 21, at 11:30 PM (*EDT*) --
And Re-Runs at Comedy Central Online
and TV Network 
on July 22nd!
Be entertained while you watch Dr. Aaron Carroll of Physicians for National Health Plan (PNHP) talk with the inimitable Colbert about national healthcare reform on The Colbert Report: Tuesday, July 21 at 11:30 PM Eastern (EDT).
See TV rebroadcasts of the show during the day on July 22, 2009, or watch it played again online at Comedy Central's web site after the night of July 22, 2009:- Additional rebroadcasts on Comedy Central network TV: Wed., July 22, at 2 AM, 9:30 AM, 2 PM, and 8:30 PM, and:
- Comedy Central Online: www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes/index.jhtml (Episode # is 5097), starting at night on July 22, 2009.
Los Angeles Single Payer March and Rally by PNHP and CaPA: Saturday July 11, 2009 at 9:30 AM at La Cienega and 3rd St: Rep Henry Waxman's Office in Los Angeles
Largest Single Payer Demonstration in 2009! Public Insurance that Guarantees
Quality Healthcare for All.
Wheelchairs and Strollers Welcome! Learn more at LA Single Payer: www.LASinglePayer.org
Open Letter to President Obama To all CaPA Members, California Physicians Alliance, and CaHPSA Members:
Hundreds of marchers joined the Los Angeles Chapter of CaPA/PNHP in collaboration
with HCA, PDA, CNA, and Unions for Single Payer for the largest single
payer march of 2009. We marched from 8339 - 3rd St, LA 90048 to the
offices of US Congressmember Henry Waxman, to urge him to hold hearings
on Single Payer Healthcare in the Congressional Committee that he chairs
These organizations and others will met at La Cienega and 3rd St in Los Angeles (8339 3rd St, LA 90048) at 9:30am on Saturday, July 11, in their professional white coats, nurses uniforms and patient gowns respectively, drank coffee/ate croissants, and then began a march/rally on 3rd St and La Cienega followed by a press conference in front of Congressman Waxman's office.
The urgent message is to give single payer a hearing in his committee, but our goal is also to broaden our message and build our movement beyond 2009. Please see the attached flyers.
More rallies will be held soon. Please bring family and friends, and please help strenghten our call for single payer.
Please contact Matt Hendrickson, MD MPH, one of the organizers at CaPA hendrickson1965@yahoo.com for more information.
Matt Hendrickson, MD MPHLos Angeles Chapter CaPA/PNHP
Steering Committee
Join CaHPSA's listserv (on our home page and the top of *every page* to stay fully informed!
Bill Moyers on Single Payer
Bill Moyers on Single Payer: Video – (Click photo to start video). A full hour TV show dedicated to single-payer, in the wake of the Baucus US Senate hearings.
Read the Full Transcript at the Bill Moyers Journal, PBS online, contrasting promises by future President Obama, former President Jimmy Carter and others -- all given assurances by the "industry" that they would voluntarily cut costs over the next ten years -- but healthcare costs instead skyrocketed. Read Full Transcript here.
The first half features Donna Smith; the second part with Himmelstein & Wolfe. (32 min.) Fabulous 6-min Moyers’ snapshot of history of healthcare reform, before the concise commentary with Himmelstein & Wolfe.
"What's In His Wallet?" asks MSNBC
Senator Baucus reportedly received over $183,000 from the health industry and over $229,000 from drug companies, the pharmaceutical industry last year alone. (See graphic from MSNBC news broadcast, May 7, 2009, reporting data from the Federal Elections Commission.)
California's SB 810 Delayed with 100's of Bills Due to Budget Crisis -
Alive and Well for 2010 !
SB 810 Delay – Due to budget frenzy, 810 – along with hundreds of other bills -- will likely be ‘on suspense’ until January 2010.
Author of the bill, Senator Mark Leno said on May 29, 2009:
"Today, in response to California’s ongoing and unprecedented budget
crisis, 
the Senate Appropriations Committee was forced to hold a large majority
of the bills on its suspense calendar. SB 810, our bill to establish single
payer universal health care in California, was not an exception.
"Faced with the loss of 25% of our General Fund revenues, the legislature must direct its undivided attention toward avoiding the gruesome cuts proposed by the Governor, which would fundamentally dismantle our most basic health, social, and educational infrastructures.
"Let me be clear in saying that SB 810 is alive and well in the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the next opportunity to move the bill will be in January, 2010. This does not represent a change to our overall strategy for SB 810 to be a two-year bill, nor does it affect or prevent us from doing the important work we already are doing to advocate and educate the public about the importance of single payer in our communities and in the legislature.
"In fact, single payer health care is ultimately our best hope for a stable and secure health care system in the future, which would then help us avoid the same kinds of painful future cuts we are feeling today.
"Together we will continue our work to build a grassroots movement and use this time productively to finally bring single payer to California."
Seattle Protests to Senator Murray: Stop Cow-Towing to Sen. Baucus
Seattle
protest 5/31/2009 – 2,500 people took to the streets 
to
tell United States Senator Patty Murray to listen up (and stop cow-towing
to Baucus and the BS)!
The crowd was mostly Democratic, but that didn't stop them from shouting down Sen. Patty Murray's general remarks about the need for health-care reform with a more specific call for a single-payer health-insurance system.
Thousands hit Seattle streets seeking changes to health care
A banner leads the way Saturday after a big crowd calling for changes to the health-care system marches down South Jackson Street after a rally at Pratt Park. The march was endorsed by more than 150 organizations, and people from all over the state attended.
(Source: Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2009282095.html
Senator Max Baucus Healthcare Reform Hearings: More Arrests, Round 2 – 5/12/2009
Watch video of US Senate Finance Committee Hearing: After delivering his patronizing opening statement about “listening”, the good Senator immediately issues his request for “Police to please come faster” and orders five nurses and doctors arrested. (9 minutes)
Watch Senator Baucus on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prtYKvO05A8
Baucus’s Raucous Caucus: Doctors, Nurses and Activists Arrested Again for Protesting Exclusion of Single-Payer Advocates at Senate Hearing on Healthcare
Watch Amy Goodman on Democracy NOW interview with Russel Mokhiber, founder of Single Payer Action on May 13, 2009.
Advocates of single-payer universal healthcare—the system favored by most Americans—continue to protest their exclusion from discussions on healthcare reform. On Tuesday, (May 12, 2009), five doctors, nurses and single-payer advocates were arrested at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, bringing the total number of arrests in less than a week to thirteen. We speak with two of those arrested: Single Payer Action founder Russell Mokhiber and Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program. [includes rush transcript]
Guests:
Russell Mokhiber, founder of Single Payer Action. He was arrested last week at the first Senate Finance Committee hearing on healthcare reform. He is also editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter.
Dr. Margaret Flowers, pediatrician in Baltimore and co-chair of the Maryland chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.
The Push for Single Payer and Universal Health Care Grows
Ed Schultz Show on MSNBC: Guests include actor and advocate for Health Justice, Mike Farrell discusses the importance of a single payer system for health care reform. Also featuring Richard Medved and others, May 2009
Diane Rehm Show
Hear a full hour discussing single-payer! withDr. David Himmelstein and others on WAMU Radio (American University, in Washington, DC) on May 18, 2009. (Length: 51 minutes)
Or go to: http://wamu.org/programs/dr/
Single Payer Health Care
Proponents of a single-payer plan argue it is the best solution for the nation’s health-care system. But chances of such a program making it into law appear remote. How a single-payer plan might work and why it faces an uphill battle in Congress.
Guests
Roger Hickey, Co-director of the Campaign for America's Future
Dr. David Himmelstein, primary care doctor; co-founder, Physicians for a National Health Program; associate professor of medicine at Harvard University
Bernie Sanders, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 after serving 16 years in the House of Representatives. He is the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history.
Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, and an on-air analyst on health issues with The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Ed Schultz asks, "Is Single-payer on or off the table?" in US Congress
(MS NBC, The Ed Show, 5/7/09)
Watch video at MSNBC (11 minutes): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30629823#30629823
Summary: Fifteen representatives of health insurance industry, pharmaceutical corporations, HMO executives and other industry chieftans were invited in advance and seated at the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Max Baucus. However, despite efforts over many months, Single-Payer advocates, physician leaders were excluded from the table and were not allowed any voice in the first two of three scheduled hearings.
Senator Baucus reportedly received over $183,000 from the health industry and over $229,000 from drug companies, the pharmaceutical industry last year alone -- more than any other Democratic Senator! (See graphic from MSNBC news broadcast. Data from Federal Elections Commission.)
“The Baucus 8”
Watch videos of Senate Finance hearing (5/5/09) where Senator Baucus says he “deeply respects” single-payer advocates, at the same time he places an order for them to be arrested by Capitol police!
Advocates Arrested at Senate Health Committee May 5, 2009
YouTube of the actual arrests of physicians and Single-Payer healthcare advocates, while Baucus and his cronies chuckle into their microphones. Watch the Video!
If the video player does not display, then click this Watch Video link to see full show! (6 minutes)