Received this from PNHP. Unfortunately, the links in the body of this email do not translate as such via cutting and pasting, so here is a link to PNHP's homepage, at least (see "Source" just below):

Source: http://www.pnhp.org/

And here is the email:

"October 29, 2009

Dear PNHP members and friends,

We have some urgent news about single-payer legislation in the Congress and civil disobedience actions around the country, including the arrest of several PNHP members at Medicare for All sit-ins.

But first, a quick thanks to over 350 physicians and medical students who made PNHP's Annual Meeting last weekend "spectacular." Links to new PNHP slide sets, handouts, and other resources from the meeting are now available online at www.pnhp.org/annual-meeting-2009/

For those members responding to media inquiries about the House bill, see PNHP's talking points and Dr. Oliver Fein's appearance on Democracy Now! this morning for inspiration. The "public option" in the bill is, as expected, a sham.


1. Call Speaker Pelosi to Request House Vote on Single Payer

In July, Speaker Pelosi publicly promised Rep. Weiner a full floor vote on his single-payer "substitute" amendment to HR 3200. It now appears that Speaker Pelosi will NOT allow a vote on the Weiner amendment. The Kucinich amendment for a state single-payer option has also been removed from the final bill.
Call Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Waxman today. Ask them to fulfill their promise by holding a vote on the Weiner amendment and demand that the Kucinich amendment be reinserted.

Speaker Pelosi - (202) 225-4965
Chairman Waxman - (202) 225-3976

Once the Senate bill is released, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will introduce two single-payer amendments. One would create a national single-payer plan, similar to S. 703 and HR 676. The other would allow individual states to adopt single payer. Urge your senators to vote "yes" on the Sander's single-payer amendments. The Congressional Switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.
2. Mobilization for Health Care for All - Civil Disobedience for Single Payer


Today, PNHP Congressional Fellow Dr. Margaret Flowers and pediatrician Dr. Eric Naumberg were arrested at Carefirst Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Baltimore, Maryland. "I cannot be complicit in the face of an industry that profits at the cost of human lives and in the face of an administration and Congress that are too dysfunctional to stop this practice," wrote Dr. Flowers. Her full statement is online at PNHP's blog.

Yesterday, Dr. Matt Hendrickson was arrested for sitting-in at Cigna offices. "It is my duty as a physician and my honor as a citizen," he says, "to speak out for my patients who are losing their savings, losing their homes and losing their lives because of the existence of the private insurance industry." Dr. Hendrickson's statement is available here.

Over 115 single-payer activists have been arrested in 18 cities in recent weeks for sitting-in at insurance company offices and demanding expanded and improved Medicare for All.

A list of upcoming actions, coordinated by our colleagues in the Mobilization for Health Care for All is below. PNHP members are encouraged to act on their consciences and participate as able. Physicians are needed as media spokespeople and on the rally picket lines as well as in roles that may risk arrest.


3. New Articles/Media of Interest

This morning, Dr. Oliver Fein, president of PNHP, appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss the current health care debate. Dr. Fein speaks on the other mechanisms being currently proposed, and how they will fail to remedy our deepening health care crisis.


Dr. Aaron Carroll provides a great history of bad health policy in his recent article in The Huffington Post titled Meet the New Health Care Reform, Same as the Old Health Care Reform. Dr. Carroll covers the state-based reforms since 1988 and shows that the legislation being debated today is nothing new.


Len Rodberg, Ph.D., articulates President Obama's "fateful choice" to attempt to reform private health insurance in his most recent article in Tikkun magazine, Health Reform: Where Obama Went Wrong. Dr. Rodberg successfully illustrates the importance of Obama's decision to maintain the role of the private insurance industry, thus ensuring that any "reform" legislation would fail.


A new study published in Health Affairs shows that uninsured American adults with chronic illnesses like diabetes or high cholesterol often go undiagnosed and undertreated, leading to an increased risk of costly, disabling and even lethal complications. The study, done by Dr. Andrew Wilper and PNHP co-founders Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, received an excellent article on National Public Radio.


U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders will likely make history this year when -- for the first time ever -- he brings a bill creating a national single-payer health care system to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Unlikely friends (photo): Donna Smith, American SiCKO, and Wendell Potter, former CIGNA executive turned whistleblower, at rally in Harrisburg, PA, on October 20, 2009. Smith was a recipient of the Dr. Quentin Young Health Activist Award at the PNHP 2009 Annual Meeting.

Cordially,


Ida Hellander, M.D.
Executive Director Mark Almberg
Communications Director"

This post has been edited by hangingchad on Nov 3 2009, 10:45 AM