California Physicians for a National Health Program and the UCSD California Health Professional Student Alliance welcomes the Drive for Universal Health Care to San Diego on April 10, 11 and 12 as the first stop on their West Coast tour which will include 20 cities in 3 states. The tour includes Laurie Simons and Terry Sterrenberg who produced and directed “The Health Care Movie,” a feature documentary explaining the history of the Canadian health care system and contrasting its accomplishments with the problems in the USA. The divergence between the two countries has only been enhanced by the complexity, inefficiency, omissions and confusion created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA-Obamacare.) Creating and marketing this Rube Goldberg system involved not just a chaotic roll out and web site but also has already cost/wasted over an estimated $6B nationally, with $1.3B in federal dollars coming to California – none of it used to treat one sick person. On the one hand, the ACA has provided subsidized health insurance to many previously uninsured Americans (only in some states), but on the other, it has provided a massive federal subsidy to expensive, self-serving for-profit commercial health insurance companies. At the same time ACA institutionalizes under-insurance and hurts the unsubsidized young and middle class who are teased with low premiums but are faced with huge liabilities due to out of pocket costs (co-payments and deductibles) should illness arrive. The risk of personal bankruptcy due to illness will not be lessened. The tour and the sponsors promote a universal single payer system for all Americans – an improved Medicare for All. This is based on the principle that health care for all is a right and a moral responsibility of a just society and not a commercial enterprise. Canada’s success demonstrates that this public policy should not be ignored just because of persistent, heavily lobbied opposition in the United States.
Events this week include:
Friday, April 11, 9:30 am: A demonstration and rally at the SD Convention Center (5th and MKL Way) This is the site of the California Medical Association’s “Western Health Care Leadership Academy” with a keynote speech that morning by Hilary Rodham Clinton.
Friday, April 11th, 3:30-5:30pm: The Health Care Movie with its producers and a discussion panel, Bob Wickline will be performing, Price Center West Ballroom B, UCSD, La Jolla, CA.
Saturday, April 12th, 3:30-5:30pm: The Health Care Movie with its producers and a discussion panel, Bob Wickline will be performing, Price Center East Ballroom, UCSD, La Jolla CA.
CONTACTS
Dr. Jeoffry B. Gordon, MD, San Diego, 619-890-2018, paradocs2@hotmail.com
Firooz Kabir, University of California, San Diego ’15, fnkabir@ucsd.edu
Cindy De La Cruz, MPH, Physicians for a National Health Program – California Chapter
w: 510.590.9692, c: 909.239.6700, f: 510.590.9780, cindy@pnhpcalifornia.org
POINT LOMA & OB DEMS 