MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR SINGLE PAYER LEGISLATION

Almost daily the newspapers have had articles describing the fall of our current health care system and the need to seriously look at solutions. Here is a sampling of California newspaper headlines in the past two months (full texts and sources can be found in Health Care in the News):

• Nation's ailing health care system needs TLC


• Rx for a sickly health-care system


• L.A. health crisis likely to spread across California


• Health care on brink for working poor


• State health-care system unraveling


• Health care in crisis, says Academy of Sciences; It urges state tests of universal coverage, no fault payments

Even the CEO of Blue Shield is now espousing �universal health care� although his solution still uses the current, profit-making insurance company arrangement and is far removed from the benefits of a single payer system. Some Democratic legislators are saying that new government health care data (see page 2) support their view that Medicare is more efficient than private insurance, but they�re still unwilling to take steps to create a similar system for people of all ages. We lost the one advocate who might have championed a truly better solution when Senator Paul Wellstone died in 2002. All of these are clear signs that the time is ripe for single payer as a viable, affordable alternative to this insanity we call a health care system. California Senator Sheila Kuehl�s single payer bill could not come at a better time!

As a result of this increasing momentum, Vote Health�s single payer committee is growing steadily and the membership in Health Care for All from Vote Health has increased by nearly 40 people to about 100 members.

The Single Payer Committee continues to meet regularly (see page two for dates) to plan outreach and educational presentations to groups in the East Bay. In addition, we are currently organizing a regional meeting of like-minded organizations to advance the bill, as has been done in the L.A. area and will happen elsewhere in the state. We are seeking endorsements, financial support for the campaign, and people to lobby for the bill.

February 18th has been designated Single Payer Lobby Day both locally and in Sacramento. We will be visiting legislators, lobbying them for bill support. If you�ve never lobbied before, come learn how to let your voice be heard in this basic democratic process. If you are interested in participating in any of these activities, call Sue Bergman at 383-5017 (days) or 540-7085 (evenings).

Some Unhealthy Facts and Figures

The federal government recently released a report with these facts:

• In 2001, health spending rose 8.7 percent, to $1.4 trillion, and accounted for 14.1 percent of the total economy, the largest share on record.


• Spending averaged $5,035 for each person in the United States.


• 41 million people in the U.S. (6.3 million Californians) have no health insurance and rely on safety net and emergency services as their main form of health care.


• The nation spent $140.6 billion on medicines in 2001, up 15.7 percent from the prior year.

Claremont Hotel Workers Continue to Fight

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., supporters of the Claremont Hotel workers are rallying on Monday, Jan. 20 from 11am to 1pm at the main entrance to the Claremont on Ashby Ave. in Berkeley. The workers have been without a contract since December of 2001, and the Claremont is still insisting that they pay hundreds of dollars for family health care while putting minimal raises on the table. Spa employees are trying to organize into the union but have been subjected to a vicious anti-union campaign that has included harassment of immigrant workers and the suspension and firing of union supporters. Join Vote Health members once again in support of our sisters and brothers in 2850!

*Vote Health Executive Board Elections*

Vote Health will be conducting its first election under the bylaws we adopted in May of 2001. At that time we established two year terms for three officers - Chair, Treasurer and Secretary - and eight at-large members. To be eligible for nomination a person must have been a Vote Health member in good standing for 3 continuous months. (""Good standing" requires payment of annual dues.) That means that as of our nominations meeting Jan. 27, a potential candidate must have been a member since October 27, 2002.

The election ballot will be held at our February 24 meeting. You can vote that night as long as your dues are paid up; you can join that night if you like and be able to vote. The nominations and election are being supervised by an Elections Committee.

Newsletter committee:
Nancy M. Friedman, Sue Bergman, Kay Eisenhower
Our thanks to CA Nurses Association for their help in producing this newsletter