ACT UP New York is organizing a march on Wall Street to demand "No More Bull, Health Care for All." The executive committee of the New York Metro Chapter of PNHP has decided to co-sponsor this event.
We will meet at Liberty Plaza at the Federal Plaza (Broadway and Worth St.-subways- City Hall on N or R; Chambers Street on the A or C; Park Place on 2 or 3) at 11:30 AM, march at noon to City Hall, then to the Stock Exchange, and then rally at the Charging Bull at Bowling Green.
All are invited to join us with signs for "Single Payer National Health Insurance" and "Get the Insurance Companies Out of Our Health Care" for what will be a very large and significant mass march and demonstration. The March is fully negotiated and permitted with the NYPD and there will be media focused on our issue.
At the culmination of the march there will be a negotiated, traditional nonviolent ACT UP "die in" civil disobedience action, clearly differentiated from the march. Many will march, with no reason to expect arrest, and a few will choose to take part in the "die-in" where arrest is likely. If you want more information about the CD please contact Joanne Landy at this email or 212-666-4001.
The march is designed to capture media attention. 50 black body bags will be carried through the march and deposited at the base of the Charging Bull Statue, symbolically representing the annual death rate of 18,000 people per year to the lack of health insurance. 18,000 people divided by 365 days per year results in 50 people dying every day in this country.
People in this country are increasingly worried about whether they will be able to get the health care they need, and believe that fundamental reform is needed. This dramatic protest, both the march and the civil disobedience, can play a crucial role in building our movement. We hope you can participate in one or another aspect of this important event.
At 04:51 PM 3/28/2007 -0400, you wrote:
>[Andy Stern: "I think people are now looking at what Governor
>Schwarzenegger is doing and say hey, it's a real deal."]
>
><http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/press-releases/2007/march/
>page.jsp?itemID=29934101>
>
>For Immediate Release
>March 15, 2007
>
>Schwarzenegger’s Health Plan Unaffordable for California, Nurses
>Charge - Healthcare Costs Could Hit $12,320 — or 25% of Income—on
>Premiums and Deductible Before Insurers Pay for Any Care - Total Out-
>of-Pocket Costs Could Exceed 36% of Household Income
>
>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s health plan could cost the typical
>California household from 25% to 36 percent of their family income,
>according to data released today by the California Nurses Association.
>
>Schwarzenegger’s health proposal, based on a new Massachusetts law,
>would require all California residents to purchase health insurance.
>But with no controls on rising premiums which have risen 87 percent
>this decade most Californians are likely to opt for bare bones
>plans that carry a heavy price tag and limited benefits.
>
>Under the Governor’s minimum plan, the typical California resident
>would likely be expected to pay $12,320 per year in medical expenses
>and premiums—before any medical care is paid for by their insurance
>company.
>
>Schwarzenegger has proposed that the minimum, cheapest plans include
>a $5,000 deductible prior to an insurance payment. The deductible is
>on top of the insurance company’s premium charges, which are likely
>to cost up to $7,320 per household, the amount established in eastern
>Massachusetts for those required to buy health insurance.
>
>For the typical California household, that means being forced to
>spend 25 percent of their income on medical costs—before any care is
>paid for by the insurance they are forced to buy (based on the median
>household income of $48,440 as of 2003 U.S. Census Bureau data).
>
>The real costs could be far more. Schwarzenegger’s proposal further
>says that out-of-pocket costs could rise to $10,000 per household if
>more extensive care is needed which would drive out of pocket costs
>up to 35 percent of the median family income. (Any hospital stay
>would expose a family to the $10,000 cost quickly; the average
>hospital charge per discharge in California is nearly $33,000.)
>
>And since the Governor’s projected costs are for the least expensive
>coverage, it is likely that most families would have to spend extra
>for dental, vision, mental health, long-term care, and other care.
>
>“Many families may end up having to make the terrible choice of
>assuming more medical debt which can lead to financial ruin, or
>foregoing needed care,” said CNA President Deborah Burger, RN.
>“Schwarzenegger’s healthcare plan could lead to financial ruin and
>bankruptcy, instead of nursing them back to health.”
>
>Health care experts say health costs constitute a “financial burden”
>if they exceed 10 percent of a family’s post-tax income. In testimony
>to the House Ways and Means Committee in January, Diane Rowland, vice
>president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, noted that one in six
>adults who are privately insured “report having substantial problems
>paying their medical bills” and that two-thirds of the privately
>insured who have medical debt have family incomes of up to $75,000.
>
>Additionally, a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics
>found that high-cost, high-deductible insurance plans are a hazard to
>patient health, because they provide parents and other patients with
>an incentive to skip or delay preventive care, immunizations,
>compliance with recommended treatment, and other needed care.
>
>SB 840 Would Provide Affordable Care to Californians:
>
>CNA has long advocated for a universal, single-payer healthcare plan
>as the only affordable and fair way to ensure that every patient
>receives a single standard of high-quality care. Governor
>Schwarzenegger vetoed just such a plan, Sen. Sheila Kuehl's SB 840,
>last year.
>Upon reintroducing her bill this year, Senator Kuehl remarked, “SB
>840 works by pooling our health care resources so everyone state
>and federal government, income earners and employers - contributes
>something and we all get coverage. This allows us to consolidate the
>administrative functions of thousands of different insurance
>companies and plans into one comprehensive insurance plan, saving
>businesses and consumers, as well as the state, billions of dollars
>in the first year alone.”
>
>CNA is the principal sponsor of SB 840 and is engaging in an active
>campaign to ensure its passage, including direct mail to households,
>a radio ad, and a new web site, www.SinglePayer.com.
>
>Representing 75,000 RNs from California to Maine, the California
>Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee is the
>fastest-growing association of direct-care RNs in the nation. Learn
>more at www.CalNurses.org
>___________________________________
>http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
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