Western States Legal Foundation

Over the past month, the Ukraine conflict has exploded once again. Now the warring
parties have agreed to a ceasefire, and to an approach to further negotiations towards a
political solution. It is time for the countries that are providing support from outside
Ukraine to halt and reverse all actions that contribute to this war, and that also are raising
tensions in the region to levels not seen since the Cold War….

Read the full commentary at http://www.wslfweb.org/docs/wslfukrainecommentary-2-15.pdf

http://www.usw.org/act/oilsafety

Safe Refineries Save Lives

USW oil workers have been forced into an unfair labor strike against the oil industry. These brave sisters and brothers are fighting for safe workplaces and communities. The companies’ bad faith bargaining, including refusal to bargain over mandatory subjects and undue delays in providing information, impeded bargaining and led to the strike. You can help stand with our brothers and sisters by clicking http://www.usw.org/act/oilsafety to sign our petition telling oil industry management and federal, state and local officials that we all want safe refineries. Safe workplaces don’t just protect workers, but also the communities where we live and work.

 

On January 5, 2015, the Jackson Central Labor Council meeting in regular session “voted unanimously to endorse and support HR 676, the National Single Payer Legislation,” reports Joe Coleman, President of the CLC.  Art Sutherland III, MD, of Physicians for a National Health Program and Terry Hash of PAX Chrisiti in Memphis spoke at an earlier meeting and urged the CLC to endorse this legislation.

The CLC resolution states, “Unions have battled to achieve the highest standards of health care for members and their families, and those gains have lifted up health benefits for all workers, even those who have no union.  All of these achievements are now under constant attack as costs rise and employers seek to shift those costs to workers.”

“HR 676 will save hundreds of billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and by using our purshasing power to rein in the drug companies,” the resolution continues.

“By standing up for all working people and leading the effort to win healthcare for all, we will affirm labor’s rightful role as a leader in the fight for social justice.  Bold action by our unions can rally the nation to pass HR 676,” the resolution concludes.

CLC President Coleman said “The Jackson Central Labor Council is grateful for the dedication and perseverance of all who work tirelessly to forge the support that keeps this vital legislation at the forefront of organized labor,”

Working with Physicians for a National Health Program, Unions for Single Payer will provide speakers to unions and other labor organizations interested in learning more about single payer health care.  Just contact us using the information below.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HR 676 would institute a single payer health care system by expanding a greatly improved Medicare to everyone residing in the U. S.  Patients will choose their own physicians and hospitals.

HR 676 would cover every person for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental (including oral surgery,
periodontics, endodontics), mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision care and correction, hearing services including hearing aids, chiropractic, durable
medical equipment, palliative care, podiatric care, and long term care.

HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments.  HR 676 would save hundreds of billions annually by eliminating the high overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and HMOs.

In the current Congress, HR 676 has 47 co-sponsors in addition to Congressman Conyers.

HR 676 has been endorsed by 617 union organizations including 149 Central Labor Councils/Area Labor Federations and 44 state AFL-CIO’s (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC, MO, MN, ME, AR, MD-DC, TX, IA, AZ, TN, OR, GA, OK, KS, CO, IN, AL, CA, AK, MI, MT, NE, NJ, NY, NV, MA, RI, NH, ID & NM).

For further information, a list of union endorsers, or a sample endorsement resolution, contact:

Kay Tillow
All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care–HR 676
c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551

Email: nursenpo@aol.com
http://unionsforsinglepayer.org

https://www.facebook.com/unionsforsinglepayer 

02/16/2015

Washington, DC.    On Tuesday, February 3, 2015, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) reintroduced HR 676, his single payer Improved Medicare for All  legislation, in the current 114th session of Congress.  The bill was introduced with 44 co-sponsors in addition to Conyers. 

Calls to congressional offices by supporters of single payer healthcare have already increased the number of co-sponsors to 46.

“Under H.R. 676, every resident of the United States would receive a card at birth that would guarantee access to a full range of medically-necessary services that include primary care, dental, prescription drugs, mental health and long term care,” said Conyers.  The bill assures to all patients free choice of physician or health care provider.

Kay Tillow, coordinator of the All Unions Committee for Single Payer Healthcare HR 676, urged everyone to call their congressperson or email them asking that they sign on as a co-sponsor of HR 676.

You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your representative by name. If you cannot speak to the representative, leave a message and request a response.

You can look up representatives by zip code here:  http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ 

A complete list of co-sponsors of HR 676 can be found here. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/676/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22HR+676%22%5D%7D  

The Physicians for a National Health Program news release is here.

Doctors group hails reintroduction of Medicare-for-all bill

Single-payer health program would cover all 42 million uninsured, upgrade everyone’s benefits and save $400 billion annually on bureaucracy, physicians say

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, February 4, 2015

Contact:
Mark Almberg, PNHP communications director, mark@pnhp.org

A national physicians group today hailed the reintroduction of a federal bill that would upgrade the Medicare program and swiftly expand it to cover the entire population.

The “Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act,” H.R. 676, introduced last night by Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., with 44 other House members, would replace today’s welter of private health insurance companies with a single, streamlined public agency that would pay all medical claims, much like Medicare works for seniors today. The full text of the bill is available here.

Proponents say a Medicare-for-all system, also known as a single-payer system, would vastly simplify how the nation pays for care, improve patient health, restore free choice of physician, eliminate copays and deductibles, and yield substantial savings for individuals, families and the national economy.

“The global evidence is very clear: single-payer financing systems are the most equitable and cost-effective way to assure that everyone, without exception, gets high-quality care,” said Dr. Robert Zarr, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, a nonprofit research and educational group of 19,000 doctors nationwide.

“Medicare is a good model to build on, and what better way to observe Medicare’s 50th anniversary year than to improve and extend the program and its benefits to people of all ages?”

Zarr, a Washington, D.C.-based pediatrician, continued: “An expanded and improved Medicare-for-All program would assure truly universal coverage, cover all necessary services, and knock down the growing financial barriers to care – high premiums, co-pays, deductibles and coinsurance – that our nation’s patients and their families are increasingly running up against, often with calamitous results.

“Such a plan would save over $400 billion a year currently wasted on private-insurance-related bureaucracy, paperwork and marketing. That’s enough money to provide first-dollar coverage for everyone in the country – without increasing U.S. health spending by a single penny.

“Such a program would also have the financial clout to negotiate with drug and medical equipment suppliers for lower prices, and would further save money through lump-sum budgeting for hospitals.

“In short,” Zarr said, “the enactment of Rep. Conyers’ bill would take us much further down the road to a humane, just and sustainable health care system than the 2010 health law, which, despite its modest benefits, will not be able to control costs and will still leave 31 million people uninsured in 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Millions more will be inadequately insured, with skimpy coverage.”

Zarr pointed out that the Census Bureau reports there were 5.9 million uninsured children in 2013.

“Surveys have repeatedly shown that about two-thirds of the public supports a Medicare-for-all approach,” he said, “and recent surveys show physician support is also strong and growing. Hundreds of labor, civic and faith-based organizations have endorsed this model of deep-going reform.

“As a doctor who sees the children of hard-pressed parents every day, I can tell you that the need for fundamental health care reform has never been greater,” he said. “It’s time to stop putting the interests of private insurance companies and Big Pharma over patient needs. It’s time to adopt a single-payer, improved-Medicare-for-all program in the United States.”

A summary of the basic provisions of H.R. 676 is available here.

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2015/february/doctors-group-hails-reintroduction-of-medicare-for-all-bill

Issued by:

Kay Tillow
All Unions Committee for Single Payer Health Care–HR 676
c/o Nurses Professional Organization (NPO)
1169 Eastern Parkway, Suite 2218
Louisville, KY 40217
(502) 636 1551

Email: nursenpo@aol.com 
http://unionsforsinglepayer.org

https://www.facebook.com/unionsforsinglepayer

02/09/2015

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

This is a reminder that you are invited to participate in the “Rally against Republicans, Who are Hurting Us!” on Saturday, February 28, at 2 pm, on the sidewalks at the intersection of Harrisburg and Macario Garcia (Hwy 90) in Houston.

As our previous email noted, the purpose of the Rally is to expose the Republicans and the Far Right for their increasingly dangerous attacks on workers, people of color, women, immigrants, LGBTQ communities, and the masses as a whole—and to help develop the kind of independent working class political action which will be required to stop these dangerous attacks. Of course, we will also have something to say about reformist politicians whose real loyalty is to the wealthy few, not the people.

So if you’re opposed to further militarization and racist militias on the border; repealing in-state tuition, DACA, and executive relief for undocumented people; openly racist attacks on people of color, Muslims, and other minorities; the attacks on women’s rights; the refusal to expand Medicaid and attempts to cut Social Security and Medicare; the refusal to adequately fund public schools, services for the disabled, and veterans care; widespread unemployment and poverty wages; the constantly growing legal and economic privileges and rights of the very rich; calls for new wars in Iraq, Syria, and Iran; giving Latin American governments taxpayer money to repress their people under the guise of fighting the drug trade; and more…You should join us on February 28!

This event is being organized by the Houston Socialist Movement. We are a new organization of long-time activists who are resolutely opposed to the Republicans and the Far Right–and their reformist counterparts–harming the working class and the masses of people. We are committed to helping workers and democratic-minded people of all nationalities understand that these problems are rooted in the capitalist system and that socialism here in the United States and around the world is the answer to these problems.

The February 28 Rally will feature short speeches, chants, music, the distribution of flyers, and an open microphone. We hope to see you there. If you would like more information, please contact us at movimientosocialistahouston@gmail.com or (832) 692-2306.

In Solidarity,

Houston Socialist Movement

http://blackagendareport.com/node/14678