CSPAN marches at Obama's speech to the AMA
We couldn't be prouder of our presence at Obama's speech to the AMA on Monday, June 15, 2009. Assembling alongside valiant members of Illinois Single Payer Coalition and ADAPT, we were there to demonstrate and hold Obama to his own words supporting single-payer health care. Most members stayed outside to keep delivering the message to the public outside the Hyatt. A few of us even managed to get into the press room and begin chanting as the crowd was leaving the speech.
The media silence on single payer is fading and our voices are being heard. A CSPAN member was interviewed by the Chi-Town Daily News. Read his remarks here. (Scroll down to the sixth paragraph from the end.)
THE FIGHT FOR SINGLE-PAYER IS ON!
The Chicago Single-Payer Action Network (CSPAN) is a grassroots organization of activists fighting to make health care a human right. We are a diverse group of people from different political persuasions, but we share the belief that our current health care system is broken and that fundamental—not incremental—change is needed.
Gender, racial, and class disparities are endemic in the health care system.
We believe the only way to end this suffering and unnecessary death is by abolishing the private insurance industry. These corporations put profits before patients and are responsible for the health care crisis.
CSPAN proudly supports John Conyers's bill, The United States National Health Care Act (H.R. 676). This bill eliminates the insurance companies and replaces them with a single-payer system where the government pays all medical bills: no co-pays, no deductibles, and no denial of care.
H.R. 676 makes health care a human right that can never be taken away.
CSPAN believes that protest and educating people are the way to win single-payer. We have organized pickets and demonstrations in front of insurance company buildings and the Democratic National Committee offices.
Successful educational events include a panel discussion with the American Medical Students Association (AMSA) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a meeting on gender and racial disparities with Physicians For a National Health Program (PNHP) at Harold Washington College.
Join us today in the struggle to win health care as a human right.
EVERYBODY IN, NOBODY OUT!
WHEN AND WHERE WE MEET
CSPAN meets the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 6:30 PM. The next meetings in 2009 will be on June 9, June 23, July 14, July 28, and August 11 at Access Living, 115 West Chicago Ave, Third Floor.
Join the list below and get info about meetings, events and news! Just fill in the fields below and click 'Submit'.
Or email us at chisinglepayer@gmail.com
Recent News and Announcements
Terrific Turnout for our June 2 Rally at Cigna Insurance!
Great work at the rally, everyone! CSPAN is proud to have participated in the National Day of Action for Single-payer, in alliance with Healthcare-Now, as well as the California Nurses Association (CNA) and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP).
After drawing much attention with our banners and chants ("End corporate welfare! Single-payer health care!"), we heard from a number of speakers, who all attested to the devastated, "back of the bus" state of our health system.
We grow more determined, passionate and focused, and we are breaking through the media blackout. Check out how the senator who said that single-payer was "off the table" has finally met with advocates. (Though, in the end, the ultimate value of the meeting is debatable.)
Read here about how Cigna denied coverage to a teenager in need of a liver transplant. This is exactly sort of vile practice we are working to end.
Check it out in this video from IMProgress:
The Single-Payer Protest Toolkit comes home!
Are you living in the vicinity of any of the companies or politicians who have been lousing up the healthcare delivery system in this country? Do you need to organize in your community to fight for the best in healthcare reform? Need to nudge a senator or representative who is supporting a ludicrous hybrid plan that won't fundamentally redress the ills in the current system?
Well, then look no further than CSPAN's Protest Toolkit !
The kit has long been available on the Healthcare-Now Web site's invaluable Resources and Videos section. We thought it was about time to bring it back to Chicago, hard-style! Download it with our compliments!
Moyers: The Best Single-Payer Profile Yet
Bill Moyers' Journal nails it on the head, with the most comprehensive look at single-payer yet. You can either watch the Youtube clips below or see the full program.
Some Noteworthy Articles
Amy Goodman reports on single-payer activists making their voices heard on Capitol Hill. And getting arrested in the process. All hail the Baucus 13!
Plus, a woman gets to ask Obama about single-payer at a Town Hall meeting and gets a weird, evasive response in return.
CSPAN Takes on HCAN!
"CSPAN is in the house!" said the host of the HCAN rally on April 18. A roar from the crowd. What the host DIDN'T say was that we were there to rally for single-payer and protest the sham of HCAN's proposed incremental reform. This report on the rally by member Helen Redmond will help clear the air.
01/21/2009 - Single Payer Teach-In
Download PDF of the Flyer (Color)
Download PDF of the Flyer (B/W)
Wednesday, January 21st
5:30 p.m.
at UIC College of Medicine
1853 W. Polk St.
Room TBA
(Dinner provided, ADA Accessible)
People are dying... We need National Single-Payer Health Care NOW!!!
The health care crisis in the United States affects everyone. Over 45 million people are uninsured and millions more are underinsured. With the economy in a recession and thousands losing jobs, the numbers of uninsured will go up. People are dying. The Institute of Medicine estimates that lack of health insurance leads to the unneccessary deaths of 18,000 Americans every year.
Health care reform is back on the national agenda. President-elect Barack Obama said reforming the health care system is a priority for his administration. But what is the best approach? A mix of public, private, and employer? A mandate like in Massachusetts? Single-payer?
Advocates for a single-payer health care system believe the government should finance health care. A single-payer system would cover everyone and end the privatized, employer-based system of coverage.
Congressman John Conyers has introduced a bill, HR 676, that proposes a national, single-payer health care system for the United States.
January 21st, a panel will discuss how a single-payer system works, a patient's perspective on the current system, and how to win single-payer.
Speakers will include Alan Jackson, MD, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)*, Vanessa Beck, patient and community organizer with Chicago Single-Payer Action Network (CSPAN)*, and Helen Redmond, LCSW CADC, emergency room social worker and community organizer with Chicago Single-Payer Action Network (CSPAN)*
* organizations listed for identification only
Come with your questions, concerns, and disagreements
Sponsored by CSPAN (Chicago Single Payer Action Network), American Medical Students Association (AMSA), the Illinois Student Occupational Therapy Association, and the Graduate Student Council... (List in formation)
09/23/2008 - Rally for Healthcare Justice!