[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Green Party joins May 30 national Day of Action for Single-Payer health care

Wed May 13 13:36:39 PDT 2009

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GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Green Party endorses national Day of Action for Single-Payer health
care on May 30

• Health care industry pledge to slow health care costs, announced
by Obama on Monday, is a scam to block real reform, say Greens

• Greens call for charges against the Baucus 13 (Single-Payer
advocates who spoke out at Senate Finance Committee roundtables on
health care) to be dropped, criticize retreats from Single-Payer by
congressional caucuses and MoveOn

• Green Party Speakers Bureau: Green leaders available to speak on
health care http://www.gp.org/speakers/speakers-health-care.php

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States has endorsed
the national Day of Action for Single-Payer national health care
(Medicare For All) on Saturday, May 30
(http://www.healthcare-now.org/campaigns/may-30th-day-of-action).

The Day of Action is being organized by Healthcare-Now
(http://www.healthcare-now.org) and other groups dedicated to
winning a health care system that covers all Americans, providing
treatment regardless of employment, income, age, or prior medical
condition, with full choice of physician, hospital, or other health
care provider.

A more immediate goal is to have Single-Payer advocates -- who speak
for the will of a majority of Americans
(http://www.wpasinglepayer.org/PollResults.html) -- represented in
all congressional and White House meetings, roundtables, and
hearings on health care.  Single-Payer has been barred from the
public debate, because of the influence of insurance, HMO, and
pharmaceutical lobbies, through campaign contributions, 'astroturf'
(false grassroots) operations, and dishonest advertising.

Similar events will take place throughout May.  On Wednesday, May
13, a 'Single-Payer Solidarity Rally' will take place in Washington,
DC, as part of National Nurses Week.  Participants will gather at
the Washington Court Hotel at 11:45 am and then march to a rally at
Upper Senate Park, which will take place from noon until 2 pm.  The
California Nurses Association expects 500 nurses to lobby and rally
for Single-Payer legislation, along with others in the Leadership
Conference for Guaranteed Health Care.

Two Single-Payer bills have been introduced in Congress, HR 676 and
S 703, under the leadership of Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen.
Bernie Sanders (Ind.-Vt.).

• Health Care Industry "PR Scam"

Greens blasted the President Obama's May 11 announcement that
insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, the American
Hospital Association, the AMA, and other groups intend to reduce the
growth of health care costs by 1.5 percent over ten years, calling
it a ploy to block meaningful health care reform -- especially the
possibility of Single-Payer (See "The Health Care Industry's PR
Scam: Will Obama Fall for It?" by James Ridgeway, Mother Jones, May
12
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/05/health-care-industrys-pr-scam-will-obama-fall-it#).

"We are embarrassed for President Obama for trying to foist this on
the public.  The health care industry's pledge of a 1.5 percent
reduction of health care spending growth -- likely to rise about 6.2
percent a year in the next ten years -- amounts to virtually nothing
for Americans who need health care.  This is a deal to make sure
that any health care reform that gets enacted continues to make
corporate profits a higher priority than the health of the American
people," said Peter LaVenia, co-chair of the Green Party of New York
State (http://www.gpnys.org).

The Single-Payer plan would do far more than slow the rate of
increase, said Greens.  It would reduce health care spending in the
US by as much as one third, cutting costs dramatically for working
Americans.  Single-Payer would also replace employer-based health
care benefits, removing a severe financial burden on businesses
suffering from the recent economic meltdown.

Green Party leaders stressed that the 'options' plans favored by
many Democrats are designed to sustain for-profit insurance
companies through massive taxpayer-funded subsidies or mandates, and
said that Single-Payer removes the private insurance-HMO industry
from the system altogether, making health care a right for all
Americans.

Physicians for a National Health Program notes that "[o]ver 31% of
every health care dollar goes to paperwork, overhead, CEO salaries,
profits, etc." (http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php)  The
overhead for Medicare, based on administrative costs but without the
demand for profit, is about 3%.  According to a Lewin Group study
(http://www.pnhp.org/news/2005/january/lewin_group_analysis.php),
Single-Payer would save California alone about $38 billion over ten
years.  (Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed two statewide Single-Payer bills
that had passed in the state legislature.)

• Greens support the Baucus 13

Green leaders called for all charges against the 'Baucus 13' to be
dropped.  The Baucus 13 were arrested for challenging the exclusion
of Single-Payer advocates during the May 5 and May 12 Senate Finance
Committee roundtables on health care reform.  Committee chair Max
Baucus has asserted that "Single-Payer is off the table."  Kevin
Zeese, former Maryland Green candidate for the US Senate and
currently executive director of the Campaign for Fresh Air and Clean
Politics (http://www.FreshAirCleanPolitics.net), has published an
account of his arrest
(http://www.opednews.com/articles/Why-I-Was-Among-Eight-Heal-by-Kevin-Zeese-090506-255.html).

"The recent protests at the Senate Finance Committee roundtables
have put Single-Payer in front of the public.  This is the moment to
demand Single-Payer as aggressively as possible.  We're dismayed
that the Progressive, Black, Hispanic, and Asian and Pacific
American Caucuses in Congress have shied away from endorsing the
Conyers-Sanders Single-Payer bills and instead declared their
support for a public health insurance option that would be 'part of
comprehensive health care reform legislation'
(http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/04/28-25).  We're equally
disappointed that MoveOn is promoting the Obama plan and criticizing
insurance lobbies -- while ignoring the participation of insurance
companies in the crafting of the plan
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms2b57MLqZs)," said Sanda Everette,
co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.

"The health care reform debate demonstrates why America desperately
needs an independent noncorporate party.  Democratic and Republican
politicians are swimming in campaign donations from the insurance
industry, receiving over $46 million in insurance money in 2008
(http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=F09).  Greens
don't accept corporate contributions.  A few Greens in Congress
would provide some new competition, leading many more Democrats --
and perhaps some Republicans -- to sign on to Single-Payer
legislation," said Justine McCabe
(http://www.gp.org/speakers/detail.php?ID=35), clinical psychologist
who co-authored statewide Single-Payer legislation in Connecticut in
1999-2000 with the support of the Green Party of Connecticut
(http://www.ctgreens.org).

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
• Green candidate news
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections

Green Party information page on Single-Payer
http://www.gp.org/organize/sicko.html

Single-Payer advocates:
• Physicians for a National Health Program http://www.pnhp.org
• Healthcare-Now Coalition http://www.healthcare-now.org
• Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care
http://guaranteedhealthcare4all.org
• Single-Payer Action http://singlepayeraction.org
• California Nurses Association http://www.calnurses.org

Green Party press releases:
• "Greens note victory for the universal health care movement after
the White House, in a reversal, invites Single-payer advocates to
its March 5 health summit" (March 6, 2009)
http://gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=189
• "Greens urge widespread protest over President Obama's exclusion
of Single-Payer/Medicare For All advocates from the March 5 health
care reform summit at the White House" (March 4, 2009)
http://gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=188

Green Pages, Vol. 13, No. 1
The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United
States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog

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