Will we get the single-payer system we all need and want but are afraid to admit? Or will we have to settle for a leaky Massachusetts-like "public plan" that emboldens a bigger Corporate Takeover of Our Health Care than we have now (if that's even imaginable)?
Stay tuned...and don't believe these two options are mutually exclusive.
They'd better not be. Our movement for single-payer may depend on how (and why) to make them inclusive so as not to shatter like we did after 1993, enabling (albeit reluctantly) more pain and suffering under years of our failed Corporate Model.
Which is as unsustainable for health care as it was for credit-default swaps. The antidote to the Corporate Model, for now? A strong Public Health Plan that incents primary care and controls costs as an alternative to our healthcare credit default swaps..er, I mean system.
So, if you must moralize instead of strategize, keep an open mind for how to turn our single-payer loss this year into a stronger movement for it next time. Let's patch the cracks and fix the leaks in our own movements, get to know each other and educate ourselves (in the Freirian sense) about our need and design ideas for guaranteed health care for all - everyone in; no one out.
And pledge to make that time come very, very soon: a strong public plan will help get us there.
Yours - more truly than ever,
Terry Schleder
NM ARA ramps up for “health care reform for all”,
celebrates Older Americans Month with expanded
Field Staff & move in to AFSCME offices
Albuquerque, NM – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 1, 2009
The NM Alliance for Retired Americans kicks-off Older Americans Month with a focus on health reform, a move into the offices of Council 18 American Federation of State, County, Municipal Employees (AFSCME) offices and the hiring of long-time public health advocate, Terry Schleder, as NM Field Staff. Schleder holds a Masters in Public Health degree from UNM and joins the NM ARA as their new organizer with a directive to grow the statewide Senior movement into a force for economic and health care justice in collaboration with union and community health care advocates. Nationally, the ARA represents 3.5 million members in 30 statewide chapters.
With bolstered support, the NM ARA will mobilize its 300+-strong statewide constituency and affiliated organizations this month to call on our Congressional delegation to support real universal health care and fix Medicare in these ways: expand coverage for pre-retirees, eliminate the inflated costs of private Medicare Advantage programs, and fix Part D’s privatized prescription price-gouging by allowing Medicare to negotiate volume discounts directly from pharmaceutical suppliers.
Despite aggressive statewide efforts to push an insurance model of health care reform, over 20% of New Mexicans remain uninsured. And aging doesn’t save New Mexicans from our healthcare access crises: 250,000 New Mexicans age 65 and older are paying higher out-of-pocket costs for an increasingly privatized Medicare since 2003 in an insurance model of health care financing that is unsustainable and an expensive break from traditional Medicare “fee-for-service” financing.
According to the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a non-partisan group:
“Since 2003 the number and costs of private Medicare plans have increased exponentially as a result of the design of Medicare Part D and "Medicare Advantage". Unlike plans to privatize Social Security, which were debated and largely rejected by lay people and professionals alike, the privatization of Medicare is well underway and has occurred largely without public knowledge or discussion. Medicare privatization and the billions of dollars being spent to subsidize private plans threaten the future of Medicare and the health and economic security the Medicare public program has provided for America’s older and disabled people and their families.”
“Congress has an opportunity to enact health care reform legislation that can improve the quality of life for all Americans. New Mexico’s Seniors and retirees, too, have a large stake in these national health care reform efforts”, says Emil Shaw, President of NM ARA and NM AFT retiree member.
NM seniors know that you can’t talk about health reform without talking about Medicare, which established health care in the US as a human right for all Seniors and not a market commodity for the few. Look for health reform updates all month from the NM ARA website.
“We are thrilled about our move into the office space donated by AFSCME Council 18 and their support of our local and national health reform agenda. Seniors and government employees in NM understand the strength and efficiency of so-called “single-payer” systems for basic human needs like health care, education and fire or police departments. I look forward to combining my local training in public health policy with the ARA’s progressive national and statewide agenda for real health reform for all”, says Schleder.
Contact:
Emil Shaw, 505-321-4603
Terry Schleder, 505-401-1328, NMSeniors@gmail.com
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