Hatch Closed to Plight of Poor

Orin Hatch continues the long tradition of the Republican Party in championing the wealthy and the corporations. I can only guess Senator Hatch has no poor constituency, because on the Sunday after the burial of his good friend, Senator Ted Kennedy, instead of thinking of those without health care, he reiterated the need for the health insurance industry as it is, because it is 1/6Th of the United States economy, something, I'm sure he has helped to bring about in his time in the Senate. So, again, a Republican thinks "money" instead of thinking of those who suffer without adequate health care.
It is amazing to me that anyone who works for a living could stand with a politician such as Orin Hatch and the Republican Party.
It would help if we all remembered what Teddy Kennedy said back in 1968 in Alaska, because it is SO fitting today as it was then, "We have let the haters take the lead, and we are all paying for it."

Ask Obama.....

If health care is an important issue for you then take a few minutes and send your question into the President?

Hope all is well out there.....Mosquito is buzzing through today.....

Buzz...Buzz...

Join the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care

Important Congressional Forum:

“National Lessons for Health Reform: An Examination of US Health Insurance”
April 1, 2009,     2 pm – 4 pm, 

2226 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington DC
This forum is open to the public.

The US has relied on private health insurance for sixty years --- what lessons can we take from this experience? What are the implications of the growing pehnomenon of underinsurance? As President Obama says, we must keep what works and end what does not. The April 1 forum will examine insurance mechanisms that will be increasingly debated as national models for health reform.

The panel of witnesses include:

• Louis Balizet, MD, Oncologist
• Marilyn Cawthon, ICU RN, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals
• Leonard Rodberg, PhD, Professor and Chair of Urban Studies Queens College
• Annette Ramirez de Arellano, DrPH, Health Research Group, Public Citizen
• Cindy Young, Senior Health Policy Advisor California School Employees Association
• David L Rabin MD, MPH, Professor of Community Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center

The witness panel will address topics highly relevant to the debate over national health reform:

• How well does US health insurance work for doctors, nurses, and their patients?
• What problems do those with insurance have in accessing care?
• Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, is it a model for national reform?
• What has the fragmented US health insurance system meant for minority populations?
• If, as many believe, employer-based insurance is broken, what is buttressing it?
• Has private insurance within Medicare met expectations?

All Members of Congress are invited to participate in the forum by listening to witness testimony and asking questions. Congressman Eric Massa [NY-29] will serve as Chairman. Ask your Representative to listen to the witnesses testimony and ask the tough questions. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past--too much is at stake.

Announce the Forum
http://www.healthcare-now.org/docs/Announcment.pdf

Invite your Representative to Attend
http://www.change.org/actions/view/ask_your_rep_to_attend_national_lessons_for_health_reform

If you will attend the forum, please RSVP to Jessica Yarbrough, jyarbrough@calnurses.org, or (202) 974-8300.

Sincerely,

Katie Robbins
Assistant National Coordinator, Healthcare-NOW!
Support Staff, Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care
o: 800.453.1305
c: 330.618.6379
f: 212.475.8350
healthcarenow08@gmail.com
www.healthcare-now.org
339 Lafayette St
New York, NY 10012

Sicko Power

Sicko is changing minds down in Texas....Read it here.