Join National Single Payer October 11 at 5PM PT / 8PM ET as we welcome Jessica Conard, resident of East Palestine, OH to present October’s Educational Session: Libby Medicare and the Public Health Emergency in East Palestine.
This month, National Single Payer invites East Palestine activist Jessica Conard to discuss Section 1881A of the Affordable Care Act, a little-known clause with large ramifications, which provided Medicare to almost all residents in Libby, Montana, regardless of age.
Jess Conard is a licensed speech language pathologist who was launched into grassroots advocacy following the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment and chemical spill. Jess has been featured on CNN, Fox, News Nation, NPR 1A, and other local podcasts to champion endorsements for medical safety and air quality monitoring for her community. Jess is also Beyond Plastics first Appalachia Director.
Could activists from poisoned communities all over the country, including East Palestine, suffering from environmental health emergencies, also raise the demand for an emergency health order and “Libby Medicare”?
We will end with a call to action, asking activists to support Jessica’s appeal to other suffering, polluted areas urging people to rise and demand an emergency declaration and “Libby Medicare.” For more info, see Kay Tillow’s article in CounterPunch.
How “Libby Medicare” came about is a fascinating story you can watch in this More Perfect Union video and read about in Kay Tillow’s article How Libby, Montana, Got Medicare for All – PNHP.
To find out more about how Section 1881A could apply to individuals living in other localities exposed to a public health hazard to which an emergency declaration applies, read more here.
Do you want to get down to the joy of working for National Single Payer? Join us October 25th for the NSP Working Group Session! This is where the work of educating, activating, organizing, and mobilizing happens!
You must register in advance for the Working Group meeting on October 25th.
After registering, you will also receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We hope to see you soon!
See what NSP Members are doing!
Western PA Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare and PNHP of Western PA hold Public Hearing with Allegheny County Council on Medical Debt
Medical debt is one of the many ills single-payer health care would heal, proponents tell County Council committee
On September 18, members of the Western PA Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare and PNHP of Western PA organized a public hearing on medical debt, one of the first of a series convened by the Allegheny County Council as a result of persistent organizing by activists.
Over the course of the last few months, activists in Western PA met with the Allegheny County Council to discuss the possibility of a voter referendum question for National Improved Medicare for All (following the lead of WI and IL), but unfortunately, the current Home Rule Charter in Allegheny County makes that extremely difficult.
In this hearing, there was considerable discussion on the possibility of changing the Home Rule Charter to make it easier to place a voter referendum on the ballot and at least some members of Council seemed motivated to try to do this.
California
California Says No to Privatizing Medicare and Medicare On Life Support (levernews.com)
Seniors and people with disabilities on Traditional Medicare can celebrate the passage of Assembly Joint Resolution 4, which puts California on record opposing the “value-based” payment scheme Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) and corporate profiteering in Medicare. Passage of the resolution is a David versus Goliath victory for grassroots activists, seniors, and people with disabilities fighting to protect Medicare from privatization by health insurance companies, private equity, and venture capital.
In California, many organizations, especially CARA, the California Alliance of Retired Americans, the Movement to End Privatization of Medicare, Health Care for All California, Senior and Disability Action, the Gray Panthers, and many more worked with California state legislators to pass a resolution opposing ACO REACH, a “value-based” payment program out of the Innovation Center.
Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, who led the fight in the Assembly, said, “California houses 20 percent of the nationally approved ACO REACH programs, posing a significant risk to seniors and vulnerable populations who rely on Medicare in our state.”