Here is the email sent out by Healthy Washington Coalition chair Robby Stern following a health care forum on July 1st:

Last night's Caucus in Tacoma exceeded our expectations. Organizers found ourselves pulling chairs out of th  convenient storage room as the 150 seats that had been set up proved to be insufficient. All seats were filled(except a couple in front; for some reason, many people don't like the front row!) and people were standing around the wonderful hall provided to us by Temple Beth El. There were more than 200 people
and maybe as many as 250.

The program was appreciated by those in attendance. Dr. Jeff Smith set the context with his presentation of the problem; Damiana Merryweather explained the legislative process that is underway and how the Coalition is moving forward and Yunhee Choi told her story of having to choose between higher education and health care. Then more than 30 participants expressed their views on the most important values that should serve as a foundation for a reformed health care system. The participant speeches were thoughtful, moving and appreciated by those in attendance. All the values are important but the top four proved to be:

Some 4,000 registered nurses began a 10-day walkout Friday at 10  Bay Area  hospitals operated by the Sutter Health chain in a dramatic protest over patient care conditions. More than 95 percent of the RNs struck the hospitals. Guaranteeing safe RN staffing at all times -- especially ensuring that Sutter RNs are able to take rest breaks and meals -- is one of several key patient safety issues that is at the center of the dispute.

See the California Nurses Association site for more details. 

The Prescription Privacy bill (HB 2664) is likely to come up for a vote in the Washington State House this Monday (February 4th). We now need to make phone calls and send emails and faxes to our House Representatives asking them to vote in favor of this bill.


These phone calls, emails and faxes should begin today and take place throughout the weekend or early on Monday morning. Big Pharma and the pharmaceutical and bio-tech companies are strongly mobilizing against this bill. Therefore, we need as much response as possible in support of HB 2664.


Call Now! 1 (800) 562-6000 (toll-free)

(Hours: 8:00am-8:00pm M-F; 9:00am-1:00pm Sat.; closed Sunday)


Message: Support HB 2664 to prohibit the sale and use of prescriber-identifiable prescription data for marketing or promotional purposes.

This Prescription Privacy bill would stop pharmaceutical companies from using the prescribing histories of physicians for marketing purposes. Protect the privacy of the patient-physician relationship. Get doctors' prescription pads out of drug reps' sights and marketing efforts. Pharmaceutical companies spend $3 billion annually to purchase prescribing histories of physicians strictly for marketing purposes. This practice, called Data Mining, is usually done without physicians' knowledge or consent and is overwhelmingly opposed by physicians. Data Mining erodes patient-doctor privacy, leads to inappropriate prescribing, undermines
patient safety and drives up costs.

Across the country, vigils are set to make a statement that our children's health is more important than the profits of insurance companies. On Thursday, there will be a historic vote in Congress to override President Bush's veto of the expansion of State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP).

The bill maintains coverage for the more than 6 million children already enrolled and extends health care coverage to another 4 million uninsured children. It was approved by large bipartisan votes in both the House and Senate. But the 265–159 House vote fell two dozen short of the of the two-thirds majority needed to override Bush’s veto.

President Bush, catering to his friends in the insurance lobby, vetoed legislation that would have given health insurance to millions of American children. Legislation that would have increased State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) funding by $35 billion was recently passed by margins of 67-29 in the Senate and 265-159 in the House. The margin in the House just narrowly missed the required two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto.

This follows Bush's recent move that makes it even more difficult for SCHIP to be delivered by those states willing to expand their coverage. 

America In Solidarity is urging its volunteers to contact their Congressional representatives and  tell them  to override this presidential veto.

Contact all your elected officials and tell them that children are just a little more important than the profits of Bush's friends in the Insurance Industry.

So much for the compassion part of "compassionate conservatism." 

At 7:30pm on a Friday night, the Bush Administration sent states new restrictions for State Children Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). The new restrictions will decimate any chance states will have to insure children by:

 

Under Bush's unilateral decree, any state that has already expanded or plans to expand SCHIP beyond 250% of the poverty level, a meager $51,625 for a family of four, will have to meet new guidelines that SCHIP experts and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office say are impossible to meet. States must:

• show they've enrolled 95% of children below 200% of poverty who are eligible for either Medicaid or SCHIP,

America In Solidarity is fully supporting Tacoma's Proposition #1 which the voters will decide upon in the November election.

Proposition #1 states: The City Council proposes to adopt a Resolution asking State and Federal lawmakers to enact legislation providing access to high-quality health care for all individuals.

All individuals need medical, dental, and mental health care. We in the United States spend more per capita on health care than any other industrialized country in the world. Unfortunately, 29,000 people in Tacoma , 113,000 in Pierce County , 800,000 in Washington State , and 47,000,000 in the United States are uninsured. Millions find their coverage eroding or disappearing completely. Everyone confronts disproportionately rising cost of medicines, premiums, co-pays, and deductibles.

America In Solidarity will be supporting this measure with phonebanks and other volunteer opportunities. Sign up as a volunteer (upper right corner) if you have not already.

From Suzette Widdison, AIS Volunteer and health care advocate

I'm writing to ask you to write you senators and especially your congressman and ask them to support what I believe to be the most important bill in the U.S. congress in a very, very long time. It is HR 1200, the American Health Security Act.
Here is a link to info:
www.house.gov/mcdermott/issues_healthcare.shtml.

I work every day with patients who either have no insurance or are on/off Medicaid, or have Medicare. So, I do believe all people should be able to go to the doctor without it costing them hundreds of dollars. But this is about more than that. America spends more than twice the amount of any other country on health
care - and yet thousands of people die every year because they don't get care, and thousands more go bankrupt (and over half of those HAVE insurance). Somebody believed in privatized health insurance (it wasn't me) and as a result we have rising insurance premiums to levels most middle-class families can't pay, people who are refused insurance because they are already sick (no "preexisting conditions"), record profits for health insurance companies. Insurance is about pooling risk, but the way our insurance companies work, risk doesn't get pooled, and everybody loses (exept the CEOs, of course).

And guess what? the government already pays for 60% of healthcare. If you work for the government, or you are or have been military, or you are old or going to be old, my taxes already fund your healthcare. So don't tell me you don't want taxes paying for healthcare!

There are other bills out there like HR 676, but I have read HR 1200 and it is a very well-written bill. It preserves the ability for each state to come up with their own system - very important in our big country - and then submit their plan to the feds for reimbursement (Medicaid works like this already). It preserves choice of providers. It has plans for what would happen to the VA system, military system, Indian Health Service, etc. (to find out, read it!) And they've already had the OMB crunch numbers on it, and they look very good.

The thing is, the health insurance industry is very profitable and powerful and they will try to scare Americans just like they did 15 years ago (when the Clintons had a plan) to squelch this thing. So PLEASE, learn the facts, talk to your friends, and call/write your congressperson!!! I'm sick of watching my patients with signs of
cancer not be able to get tests or see a specialist, and I'm sick of hearing stories of bankruptcy from colleagues who have insurance, and I'm sick of paying $467 a month for insurance for JUST ME!!! And I don't even use it!

Several America In Solidarity volunteers testified at the July 10th Tacoma City Council meeting to urge the Council to send a resolution to the people on the November ballot stating "The City Council proposes to adopt a Resolution asking State and Federal lawmakers to enact legislation providing access to
high-quality health care for all individuals."

The Council voted to send this ballot resolution to the people on the November ballot. A similar resolution was recently passed in Seattle. AIS pledge signer, Councilmember Julie Anderson sponsored the resolution.

"If every town, city and county in the country passed measures like this, Congress could no longer ignore the populist cry to have affordable, quality health care for every citizen of our country," said Todd Iverson, president of America In Solidarity after the vote. "Our organization is committed to guaranteeing this right for everyone."

There is no doubt that America has a health care problem. We've detailed many examples, and America In Solidarity has been proud to sponsor several forums on the subject. Now we are asking you to print out a petition and ask your friends, co-workers, or even stand outside a showing of Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko" and get people to sign up. Copy the petition and send to both your United States Senators, your Congressman and any local official.