[Sosfbay-discuss] Cal Nurses Assoc & Michael Moore Rally for Single Payer, (SB 840 passed Senate, now in House)

Wed Jun 13 17:32:38 PDT 2007

Many Greens are also participating in coalition to get
Single Payer finally passed in California.  This
report is from our Single Payer Health Care Coalition
of Santa Clara County (which the GPSCC is a coalition
member of) lobbyist.

Green is Health!

Drew

VIDEO:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/

From: "Lynn Huidekoper" <lynn_huidekoper at hotmail.com>
Subject:	 Michael Moore in Sacramento
today-unforgettable
Date:	 Wed, 13 Jun 2007 01:15:15 -0700

{Yesterday} was an unbelievable day thanks to Michael
Moore and CNA. Busloads of nurses, CSEA, CARA folks,
PNHP/CaPA, SF Universal Health Care Coalition folks
and more descended upon the Capitol to hear Michael
Moore testify about his movie Sicko in the Assembly
hearing room.

CNA went all out and had huge tents with huge TV
screens showing the hearing. The only folks in the
hearing room were CNA members. 

He and Sheila Kuehl were peas in a pod-both funny
comedians(Sheila was a comic prior to going to Harvard
law School) who are passionate about exposing the
health care system and crisis. Michael explained how
he became interested in the health care crisis to
produce Sicko and that he is expecting us in Calif. to
lead the nation as we have many times before. 

3 witnesses spoke after him-all 3 in his film. 

1) Dr. Pinto(?) who admitted that as an MD reviewer
she was hired by Humana to deny care to their pts. One
man died as a result of her following company policy
to deny as much as you can. She has felt guilty ever
since. She testified before Congress back in 1996. She
flew in from Kentucky to give her testimony.

2) The manager of a Skid Row Mission for the homeless
and mentally ill where pt. "dumping" occurs often. One
elderly woman was dropped off by a taxi in front of
the mission and left to wander down the street in her
hospital gown. The hospital personnel sent her in a
taxi in spite of being ill and demented. This manager
took her in and called for her to be returned to the
hospital for proper care. As a result, a social worker
and MD worked to get her into a group home.

3) A tragic story(esp. for me a Pediatric nurse)-a
13-month old girl who had a high fever and lethargy
was turned away for care because the Mom lacked the
proper insurance. She was transferred to another
hospital where she died 15 minutes later. I wondered
if a nurse interfaced with this pt. because it would
have been totally unethical to turn this mother away.

Michael asked Kuehl to present a bill to file criminal
charges against insurance companies who deny care and
there are negative outcomes.
Lunch provided by CNA-gourmet 

Afternoon Rally on Capitol steps with all of the above
and David Himmelstein, founder of PNHP, who works at a
Cambridge, Mass hospital. chanting and live music,
Sheila, RoseAnn Demoro,etc.

Sicko
The Crest theater is a really cool old at deco
theater. Michael said it's one of his favorite
theaters.

The movie is unbelievable. Brings you to tears mixed
with laughter as he compares our system to Canada's,
Frances, and England's. Interviewed doctors, pts.,etc.
It's a must see. I want to see it again as there's
lots there.

I see ads already about June 29 and the main activity 
For us will be to coordinatie with other groups to do
the leafletting needed at every Santa Clara Cty. movie
showing. 

So....RSVP if you want to leaflet the theaters showing
Sicko on Friday, June 29. The more tickets sold that
night the more that it gets shown at other theaters.
Thanks, Lynn

http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/blogs/marquee/2007/06/michael-moore-takes-sicko-to-sacramento.html

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6123940

California nurses rally for Michael Moore's new film
"Sicko"
By LAURA KURTZMAN Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 06/12/2007 05:45:40 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO—Filmmaker Michael Moore teamed up with the
California Nurses Association on Tuesday to promote
his new documentary "Sicko" at a legislative briefing
and a rally on the Capitol steps.
The nurses union, famous for the bruising battle it
waged against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005, used
Moore's visit to push for a single-payer health care
system, which the governor opposes.
The nurses donned red "Sicko" T-shirts, packed the
hearing room and cheered as Moore bashed the health
insurance industry and said companies that deny claims
should be criminally prosecuted.
"I'd like to see executives of these companies in a
perp walk in handcuffs," Moore told about a dozen
lawmakers, all of them single-payer supporters, who
turned out for the informational briefing.
The meeting, held when most lawmakers are at lunch,
was chaired by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, the Santa
Monica Democrat who is pushing a single-payer bill,
which Moore also supports. Three other people
testified, all of them featured in Moore's film, but
no one spoke from the health insurance industry.

The state Legislature passed Kuehl's bill last year.
But it was mostly a symbolic gesture, since the bill
lacked a funding mechanism. Schwarzenegger vetoed it.
Mohit Ghose, a spokesman for America's Health
Insurance Plans, said polls show most Americans prefer
a system of private insurance over a single-payer
system that would get rid of insurance companies.
Advertisement

"The American public, election after election, year
after year, has rejected the idea of a government-run
system," he said.
Moore acknowledged that his appearance in California,
where both the governor and legislators are pushing
health care reform, would help promote his new movie.

Asked during a news conference if he was worried the
film might be used by Democratic politicians to
promote their agenda, Moore replied, "I thought it was
the other way around."

Kuehl, who has toiled on the single-payer issue for
years, also noted the public relations benefits of
being associated with Moore. When the filmmaker
created a link from his Web site to hers, Kuehl said,
"We got more links on the first day than all the other
senators combined last month."

Moore's documentary about the nation's health care
system was scheduled to have its U.S. premiere Tuesday
night in Sacramento. It opens in theaters June 29.

___________________

JamBoi: Jammy, The Sacred Cow Slayer
The Green Parties' #1 Blogger
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com

"To the brave belong all things"
Celt's invading Etrusca reply to nervous Romans around 400BC

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)

____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows. Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.
http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545469