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PUSH, Pennsylvanians for Single-Payer Healthcare, the local coalition initiated by the Citizens Budget Campaign of W. PA. is taking off. The first meeting, held on January 24th at the United Steelworkers drew over 60 people from religious and community groups, physicians, labor, people working in health care, senior citizens, business owners, politicians, child advocates and the uninsured, got the ball rolling. Health care in this country is in crisis. Forty-four million have no insurance, 2.5 million in Pennsylvania. Three out of four uninsured are working and those with insurance have no guarantee of continued coverage. Co-pays and other charges are skyrocketing. And the U.S. is 37th in the world in quality of health care. 48% of personal bankruptcies are healthcare-related. Insurance has become too expensive for most small and medium-sized businesses. 16% of the total U.S. economy is spent on health care, at least 50% more than any other country, including those with national health care. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation without national health care for all. Overlapping and duplication of services, a blizzard of paperwork, bureaucracy, high prices and profits of drug companies and health-related industries, and powerful lobbies that sustain the health care industry at the expense of the public all contribute to a system that is unsustainable. All of this has led the prestigious National Academy of Sciences to issue a report that called for national health care. So the time is ripe for demanding a national healthcare program and insisting that our representatives not settle for halfway measures that have in the past continued to drive costs up while handing out subsidies to the special interests. The recently passed Medicare drug bill is the most recent example of how the lobbyists can exercise influence, even offering $100,000 donations to gain key votes. At the meeting on February 7th, it was agreed that the goals of PUSH would be: Universal, high-quality health care for everyone, through national, single-payer coverage; State and national legislation; and to educate and mobilize the public with real solutions to the health care crisis. Four committees were formed and began to plan initial actions. These were education, outreach, political action and fund-raising. We support HR 676, the bill introduced in Congress by Rep. John Conyers. There are at least 44 co-sponsors and counting. We plan to add Western Pennsylvania’s delegation to that list. The February 28th meeting will include a session with state legislators to lobby for a state bill based on the provisions in HR 676. A number of other states have already introduced similar legislation. For information on PUSH and how to get involved go to www.PushNow.org. You can go to the Citizens Budget website from the www.thomasmertoncenter home page. There you will find articles and information on HR 676, local and national actions, important articles, national coalitions such as PNHP, the physicians group which has a local chapter. You can also call the Merton Center 412/361-3022 or e-mail me at mrush@peoplepc.com. If everyone affected by this crisis can join together we can make a difference. Join PUSH now. - Molly Rush
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