with guest speaker

Louisville, Ky. — To celebrate Medicare’s 50^th birthday, Dr. Johnathon Ross will give a free, public talk on the history of Medicare and why we must Protect It, Improve It, and Expand It. The event will take place Thursday, July 30, 2015 from 6:30-8 PM in the Centennial Room of the Louisville Free Public Library, 301 York St.

Building on the Protect It, Improve It, Expand It (PIE) theme, free pie will be served to attendees. The event is sponsored by Kentuckians for Single Payer Healthcare, a coalition of individuals and organizations working to pass universal, single payer health insurance as embodied in HR 676, the Medicare for All legislation, sponsored by Congressman John Conyers.

Dr. Johnathon Ross is a past president of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), a national health reform group of nearly 20,000 physicians and health professionals who advocate for reform. A graduate of Cornell University and the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo, he also holds a master’s degree in health policy and administration from the School of Public Health of the University of Michigan. Currently an Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Toledo, he practices and teaches general internal medicine at St Vincent Mercy Medical Center. His experience inside the health insurance industry convinced him of the logic and need for a national health insurance program. Dr. Ross has previously presented grand rounds on single payer health care at the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky.

Dr. Ross is available for interviews. To schedule, please contact Kay Tillow at nursenpo@aol.com.

Download flyer:   MEDICARE_flyer_final

David Elson of Louisville continued to work at installing alarms while he tried to cope with his diabetes, kidney problems, and congestive heart failure.  The New York Times documents his struggle to pay for medications that cost $550 a month.

When the ACA exchange (KYnect) was implemented he found a plan that cost $353 a month with a $2,700 deductible.   He earned too much to be eligible for Medicaid.  When he was unable to afford the ACA plan on his $22,000 a year unsteady income, he was forced to wait until his kidneys failed completely which made him eligible for Medicare for those on dialysis.