<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="country-region"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Trebuchet MS";
panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Forte;
panose-1:3 6 9 2 4 5 2 7 2 3;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";}
p.MsoAutoSig, li.MsoAutoSig, div.MsoAutoSig
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext;}
span.EmailStyle20
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><u><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext;font-weight:bold'>November
16, 2007: SPECIAL to the Healthcare MOVEMENT<o:p></o:p></span></font></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'>To People
all over the Country Demanding Healthcare for All:<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>Last week in Chicago, more than 100
Healthcare-NOW activists came together to plan our strategy for</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>quality single
payer, guaranteed choice, national healthcare during the coming year.
We also launched our first SiCKO-Cure Road Show.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>We agreed that our mission is to
by-pass all of the incremental compromise plans being proposed that allow the
insurance companies to continue killing people. American Patients for
Universal Health Care revealed statistics that 282,600 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place> patients have died since the
beginning of the Iraq War as a result of insurance denials. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>We all know that we are in a major
healthcare crisis – that the crisis of the “uninsured” is
only the tip of the iceberg. The truth is that people who think they have
good insurance are dying too since the insurance companies cancel and reject
and deny even people who have been buying their product for decades.
And their salaries and profits continue to rise because the more people
they deny, the more money they make. Most people without insurance are
people with jobs, striving to make ends meet…many of them making good
middle class salaries that don’t stretch to cover health insurance.
And many of these are young people who don’t expect to ever have a job
that will cover their healthcare needs.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'>So,
what are we getting from <u>all of the major candidates</u> in the Republican
and Democratic Parties? </span></font></b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'> The most
promoted</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext'>proposal, supported by both former governor Mitt Romney, a
leading Republican, and Senator</span></font><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext'>Hillary Clinton, a leading Democrat</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>, </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'> is the
“individual mandate,” a plan that would force all of us to purchase
health insurance from the insurance companies – further enriching them
and allowing them to continue controlling our system, providing inadequate
plans</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>, </span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>raising
premiums, charging co-pays and deductibles, and denying us
healthcare. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>Why don’t the candidates get
it? Why can’t they see that we do not want the insurance
corporations and their rich lobbyists to continue controlling our healthcare
system? We want a single payer system that WE control as a part of a
public responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>In our Chicago meeting of healthcare
leaders, our<b><span style='font-weight:bold'> </span></b></span></font><b><font
color=purple face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:
bold'>business coalition for single payer</span></font></b><b><font size=2
color=purple face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:purple;font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>noted
that in meetings with insurance executives, they</span></font><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>have learned that
these entrepreneurs are determined to stay in the game and continue to haul
away billions of our healthcare dollars (one third of the whole healthcare
budget goes into their pockets for administration and profits) as long as they
possibly can. Even though they know that the system in the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>
is going to change because of our demand, they plan to stay in control and rake
in the dough as long as possible. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>We know they are powerful. They are
able to resist every attempt to regulate them or remove them. They have
more than one well-paid lobbyist for every single Member of Congress. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>Unfortunately, none of the
“media-chosen” front-runners is willing or able to</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>commit to removing
the insurance companies so far. Everyone on this Healthcare-NOW mailing
list should investigate these candidates. Ask the real questions.
Who are their contributors? Where is their loyalty?
Bird-dog them. Ask them to commit to a single payer system. Ask
them to reject insurance and drug company financing. Some of them
expect us to believe the promise that (when they are elected) they are going to
heavily regulate the insurance industry. Give me a break! They have
never been heavily regulated and they never will be. They
must be exposed and ejected. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'>How
many more thousands have to die as a result of insurance denials and rejections
before we get the change we need?<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'>Let’s
get a system that is not based on denying healthcare procedures to the people
who need them in order to increase profits.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>What is your job and my job now?
Elect Progressive candidates to Congress – Pro-single payer candidates
throughout the nation! That’s what we need. Candidates who
care about what we think about healthcare and the health of our country and our
world. NOW is the time to make it happen – not sometime next year
when you realize you don’t have a viable candidate. Find new
candidates if you don’t have one in your district, Get ready to help
elect them and hold them accountable.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'>Our
national <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Sicko-Cure Road</st1:address></st1:Street>
Show is on the trail right now. </span></font></b><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'> We
are visiting 22 Congressional Districts and 11 States. Go to our website
to read the story</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>. </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext'>And get ready to join us on more Road Shows into other
Districts next year. Who wants to go to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">New Hampshire</st1:place></st1:State> in January?</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'> Thanks to
support from our co-sponsors, the California Nurses Association and the
Physicians for a National Health Program, the Steelworkers and hundreds of
local groups, this strategy is working</span></font><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext'>and building support for HR 676.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>Next year, we will be joining with
these groups and others to expose the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:State></st1:place>
“individual mandates” requiring/forcing everybody to purchase
insurance from insurance companies or pay a hefty fine. Maybe it will be
a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City></st1:place> tea
party. We are discussing a Road Show down from <st1:State w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:State>
to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></st1:place> culminating in a National Memorial for
the 282,600 people who have been killed by insurance company denials. </span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> </span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>What do you think
of this idea? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=purple face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:purple;font-weight:bold'>We
need you to be a part of us at every step on this journey.</span></font></b><font
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'> </span></font><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext'> You’ve helped to build a huge movement for a
national healthcare system. Now we must redouble our efforts to challenge
the privatizers and keep them from sabotaging that movement. Go to
our website to learn more. AND Join Healthcare-NOW. <a
href="http://www.healthcare-now.org/">www.healthcare-now.org</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face=Forte><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Forte'>Marilyn Clement,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>National
Coordinator<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face="Trebuchet MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS"'>Healthcare-NOW<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><a
href="www.healthcare-now.org">www.healthcare-now.org</a></span></font><font
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:windowtext'>P.S. We have a brief analysis of the
presidential candidates’ healthcare plans. Let us know if you would
like to have a copy. <a href="mailto:info@healthcare-now.org">info@healthcare-now.org</a>
Also be in touch if you’d like to help organize for this critical
campaign for a national guaranteed single payer healthcare system. No one
else can do it. Like it or not, “We are the leaders we have
been waiting for.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>