I just got off the phone with Chuck Pennacchio, who is our
tireless facilitator here in Pennsylvania to spearhead the
passage of Single Payer legislation. Perhaps we will be the
first State in the Union to pass Single Payer, otherwise
known as HB 1660/SB 300.
Several questions were raised during the course of our call.
1) Why is Washington not the right venue for Single Payer
Passage?
We can see the "why not" right now as our President
confronts Washington Insiders to settle on an Economic
Stimulus Package. He was not getting anywhere so he took
his pleas on the road to present the stimulus plan to the
American people.
Washington Insiders are stuck. Getting Single Payer passed
in Washington is frankly, a joke.
2) We must depend on grassroots power to get Single Payer
enacted State by State.
3) John Conyers, Jr, United States Congressman, who
orchestrates HR 676, the United States National Healthcare
Act, is now putting his energy into state sponsored Single
Payer Bills. We know this because he will be coming to
Pennsylvania, then to Massachusetts and then Ohio, to help
these states with their Single Payer initiatives.
4) We need look no further than the lessons of United
States History.
Major reform has always occurred historically first in the
states.
For instance, consumer rights, women's right to vote,
minimum wage laws, child labor laws and Civil Rights all
were initiated first on the state level.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal started on the state
level, as well, when he gave the crucial "Economic Bill Of
Rights" speech at the end of World War II.
Additionally, at the end of WW II, when England, France and
Germany formulated Guaranteed Healthcare For All, the
United States was also on the verge of doing the same
thing, with Harry Truman's visionary leadership. But the
conservative control in Washington at the time opted for
employee based health insurance coverage.
Guaranteed Universal Healthcare became a corporate For
Profit entity from that point on.
5) The United States Constitution provides for division of
power. This is spelled out in the idea of Federalism,
which is used to describe a system of government in which
sovereignty is constitutionally divided between national
and state governments.
James Madison, America's fourth President, had a vision
that each state represented a laboratory where new ideas
are tried out and propelled onto the national stage.
Let us also keep in mind that the Canadian Healthcare
System began first in Saskatchewan, 1962, and then went
national a year later.
Why Pennsylvania?
1) Pennsylvania's Governor, Ed Rendell, has repeatedly said
he will sign the bill, if the people can get it on his
desk. Governors elsewhere have not given similar support.
2) Health Insurance and Pharmaceutical Companies spend huge
amounts on advertising to influence against the Single
Payer alternative. However, because Pennsylvania is a
non-referendum state, higher legislative entities have the
final say as to whether a bill is passed, or not and
theoretically, are not influenced by propaganda designed to
sway the minds of the people.
3) The Quinnipaic Survey poll taken in May 2008, said that
68% of Pennsylvanians supported Single Payer legislation.
Apparently, the propaganda discussed in item #2 is having
little effect in the mind's of most Pennsylvanians.
This poll was completed before the economic downturn. It is
safe to say that with so many people out of work and
without health insurance, this number is well over 70%.
This, my friends, is considered a consensus, hands down.
Furthermore, Pennsylvania polling percentages for Single
Payer are higher and more favorable than any other state in
the union.
4) Republicans are coming aboard in support of HB 1660/SB
300. Republicans elsewhere have not given similar support.
For instance, Tom Murt, State House Representative in
Montgomery County, and an Iraq War Veteran, strongly
supports the bill.
Twenty- One other House Republicans signed on in support of
the Economic Impact Study, which is a prerequisite for
these bills passing in the Commonwealth.
5) Healthcare For All PA has 8,000 members from all walks
of life; nurses, doctors, medical and nursing students,
teachers, farmers, labor and business leaders, Chamber of
Commerce, League Of Women Voters, Council Of Churches,
AFL-CIO, as well a Republicans, Democrats, Independents,
Greens, who allsupport the bills.
Pennsylvania is at the epicenter for passage of HB 1660/SB
300 for reasons that form a groundswell of bipartisan,
economic, moral and democratic (with a small d) gathering
of energy.
We are excited to be apart of this energy.
Once we pass it, every other state will follow.
Thanks to Chuck Pennacchio for an excellent history lesson,
and for providing the facts in this article!!
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Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the
creator of the e-book called "Transform Your Nursing Career
and Discover Your Calling and Destiny." Click here to order
the e-book:
http://www.nursingcareertransformation.com
Check Out Kate's Blog and Lens:
http://www.squidoo.com/guaranteedhealthcare4all
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
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