October 19, 2007
SINGLE PAYER TAKES TO THE STREET
 |
Moore won't settle for anything less than single-payer health care |
Health care for people! Not for profits! That's what the 300 people who attended the inaugural rally and march for Private Health Insurance Must Go! Coalition on Wednesday shouted as they left Bryant Park—they were on their way to let Sen. Hillary Clinton and the insurance company Aetna know their belief that single-payer health insurance is the only way to provide true universal health coverage.
"The presidential candidates shouldn't expect our votes if they don't support a single-payer plan," the event's MC, Adjamu Sankofa, of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, said as the crowd erupted in cheers. "From the womb to the tomb!"
While all of the Democratic presidential nominees, and some of their Republican counterparts, have proposed plans for universal health care, only Rep. Dennis Kucinich's calls for a single-payer health care system, akin to Medicare or the Canadian health care system, for everyone, as outlined in H.R. 756, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan). Supporters of single-payer health care believe the only way to provide quality, affordable insurance to everyone is to cut out the middle-man of the health insurance companies and allow individuals to contribute toward their health care through a "single-payer" plan run by the government.
Representatives from the coalition's 30 member organizations attended (including Physicians for a National Health Program, Healthcare-NOW, and ACT UP/NY), as well as hundreds of concerned individuals, all with their own stories about how they or people they know have been hurt by the fragmented insurance system.
"I'm a nurse, and I'm sick and tired of all the time I spend on the phone figuring out what my patients are and are not covered for," said Kenya Moore, who wouldn't reveal where she worked for fear of antagonizing her employer. "I stopped working in hospitals because they kick people out of hospitals too soon. If the government covered everything it would have to be different." Moore has also been let down by health coverage in her own life. "I'm a veteran, and I can't afford to get my teeth cleaned," she said.
The first stop of the march was Aetna headquarters, where, as at all private insurance companies, profits margins are steep, and in the case of Aetna rose 27 percent from 2005 to 2006. Rallyers stood behind police barriers, raising signs, chanting into megaphones, "Not a nickel, not a dime, no more money for Aetna's crime!" while speakers such as Brent Nicholson-Earle of the American Run to End AIDS recounted how he was forced into bankruptcy because his health insurance didn't cover his critical dental care. "Insurance companies should not be making these critical medical decisions," Nicholson-Earle said. "No one should be forced into bankruptcy for lack of dental care. Under the H.R. 676 single-payer solution this would not have happened to me." Aetna employees stood by windows looking down at the demonstration.
Next stop was Clinton's New York office. The Democratic presidential-campaign frontrunner received some of the crowd's harshest words, with Sankofa noting that insurance companies are endorsing her health care plan, which would maintain much of the current system. ACT UP founding member Eric Sawyer shouted, "Hillary Clinton, come out, come out wherever you are! We are looking for the Hillary Clinton of old who supported a single-payer system! You know in your heart that only a single-payer health care system will ensure true care for all and universal access to life-saving medicine!"
For more information about the Private Health Insurance Must Go! Coalition go to phimg.org.