Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care

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Harriette Seiler and Antonio Wilson in Louisville's St. Pat's Parade
Harriette Seiler and Antonio Wilson in Louisville’s St. Pat’s Parade

Sign the petition to Put Single Payer on the Table!

Act to End the Direct Contracting Entities and ACO REACH that are privatizing Medicare.

Contact us: nursenpo@aol.com, Facebook, kentuckians_for_single_payer, Single Payer Radio, @KY4singlepayer

Read the Physicians’ Proposal for a National Single Payer Program.  Sign on to it. Join National PNHP.

Slides from Drs. Steffie Woolhandler & David Himmelstein

Quote of the day by Don McCanne. Health Justice Monitor

Answers to questions on single payer.

HR 676, Expanded and Improved Medicare for All, a model single payer bill in the House from 2003 to 2017.

HR 3421, Improved Medicare for All, national single payer bill, currently in the House, which needs to be improved to ban and convert the for-profit hospitals, nursing homes, dialysis centers, etc.

Please support the work of Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care by making a donation on line here.  Or you can mail your check to KSPH, PO Box 17595, Louisville, KY 40217.  Annual dues are $5, but we welcome whatever you can give.

Recent Report Ranks U.S. Healthcare Dead Last

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In a recent Single Payer Radio program, Kay Tillow, Harriette Seiler, Hamza Jamal, Evan Hawthorn, and Paul Hoppe of Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare discuss the poor ranking of our healthcare in this country based on a Commonwealth Fund report comparing 10 industrialized nations.

Goal: Compare health system performance in 10 countries, including the United States, to glean insights for U.S. improvement.

Methods: Analysis of 70 health system performance measures in five areas: access to care, care process, administrative efficiency, equity, and health outcomes.

Key Findings: The top three countries are Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, although differences in overall performance between most countries are relatively small. The only clear outlier is the U.S., where health system performance is dramatically lower.

Conclusion: The U.S. continues to be in a class by itself in the underperformance of its health care sector. While the other nine countries differ in the details of their systems and in their performance on domains, unlike the U.S., they all have found a way to meet their residents’ most basic health care needs, including universal coverage.

Kentuckians for Single Payer reached out at the Pride Festival

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On Sep. 14, 2024, Harriette Seiler, Paul Hoppe, and Dave Shuler staffed the KSPH booth to distribute flyers and get petitions signed. They report an enthusiastic reception by the public. Our thanks to the Louisville Workers Brigade for generously sharing their booth with us.

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Paul Hoppe and Harriette Seiler at the Pride Festival in Louisville 2024
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Dave Shuler explains the Improved Medicare for All petition

Enhanced Medicare for All a Hit at the World Fest

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Labor Day weekend Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care staffed a booth at the World Fest.  Enthusiastic supporters lined up to sign the petition urging candidates and elected officials to “boldly support national single payer health care legislation.” 

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Photo: Jill Harmer uses her fluent Spanish to explain Medicare for All.

As they signed they told their stories.  One couple decides each year whether or not they can afford to buy insurance or take the chance of going without.  They currently have an ACA plan purchased on the Exchange that costs them $1,400 monthly for the two of them and their daughter. 

A woman in a Medcaid/Medicare Advantage plan related how her insurer denies the physical therapy she desperately needs.

People loved the “Enhanced Medicare for All” bumper stickers and the T-shirts. 

Check out the photos in Harriette Seiler’s album:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YSwmjkhUbPunZnsbA

Opioid Overdose Deaths in Kentucky Could Be Reduced Drastically By Changing State Laws

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Kentucky Legislature Impedes Access to Opioid Addiction Treatment

I hosted a SinglePayer Radio program recently with Dr. Pat Murphy, nationally known pain management treatment and addiction specialist that prompted me to write this post. With Kentucky having the 7th highest drug overdose rate in the country, our state legislators have the power to relax the antiquated Buprenorphine (Suboxone) dispensing rules due to the monumental  elimination of the federal X-waiver requirement for Physicians in January of 2023. Kentucky is one of only 7 states that have not done so and it seems there is little interest in doing so. Dr Murphy believes Gov Beshear, through his Executive Authority, could possibly reverse some of these barriers to this life changing and life saving treatment. If we send emails to our state representatives as well as Gov Beshear, we may be in a position to save the lives of many Kentuckians. <Click here if you need a template>

Medicare Birthday at the Schnitzelburg Dainty Contest, the Bounce Pickleball Courts, and the Wednesday Concert

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In late July at the John & Will Gage concert at Bounce Pickleball Courts, at the Germantown Dainty Festival, and the WFPK Wednesday concert, KSPH volunteers distributed over 400 Medicare Birthday flyers and were welcomed by folks who said “I’m with you on this!”

Our thanks to our KSPH recording secretary, Harriette Seiler (yellow hat), who prepared the flyer and braved humid 90’s to take the message to the public.

There is new hope. The people want Enhanced Medicare for All!

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Join Us for Medicare Birthday 2024 in Kentucky

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It’s a tradition!  Kentuckians celebrate Medicare’s July 30 Birthday every year and call for an Improved Medicare for All so that everyone will have healthcare as a birthright.

* A few years ago we lit up the sky at the Big Four Bridge above a concert of thousands.

Lights on the Big Four Bridge

* We’ve delivered cupcakes to Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, and John Yarmuth.
* We’ve marched across bridges.

Each time more learn of the wonders and possibilities of a publicly-funded health plan and of the need to enact a national non-profit single payer plan—an Enhanced Medicare for All.

Join us this year as we distribute flyers.  

(We’ll also have bumper stickers and petitions.)  

There are two opportunities to be a part of it:

1.     Sunday, July 28, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm at 1515 River Shore Drive, Goodbounce Pickleball Court, Louisville, just before the free Will and John Gage Concert that is from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.  Bring chairs if staying for the concert; food truck is there with food and drinks on sale.

2.    Wednesday, July 31, at 5:00 pm as the gates open for a free concert beneath the Big Four Bridge.  The concert begins at 6:00 pm. https://www.lpm.org/waterfront-wednesday

You’re invited to be a part of spreading the message and the hope of a more healthy, humane future for our country.  Let us know you’re coming.  Call Kay at 502 636 1551 or email nursenpo@aol.com.

If you’re not in Louisville, we invite you to set up your own celebration.  Let us know and we’ll send the flyers.

On Tuesday, July 30, in advance of the 8:00 pm soccer game, we could distribute flyers at the Lynn Family Stadium.  https://www.loucity.com/news/2024/04/21/loucity-to-host-germanys-eintracht-frankfurt-in-july-30-friendly/  Let us know if you’d like to do that.

Happy 59th Birthday, Medicare.

Cover Kentucky with Enhanced Medicare for All!

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Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care has produced our first ever bumper sticker.

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We hope to show the massive, popular support for a national, not-for-profit, single payer plan by covering the commonwealth with the demand for “Enhanced Medicare for All.”

Help us to display the message and build the movement!

One bumper sticker is free—with the commitment to use it.  We’re happy to make more available—a donation to help us to cover the printing and mailing costs will help.

Email Kay Tillow at nursenpo@aol.com with “Bumper Sticker” in the subject line or write to us at KSPH, P. O. Box 17595, Louisville, KY 40217.  Phone:  502 636 1551.