Harriette Seiler at an earlier rally protesting healthcare cuts.
The Louisville Fellowship of Reconciliation invited Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care to present the program on February 19, 2026, at the Third Thursday Luncheon at Hotel Louisville.
Using Power Point, Kay Tillow outlined the current state of our health care crisis showing the urgent necessity to enact a National Single Payer Plan, an Improved Medicare for All, free from profit. Jim Johnson of Solutions to Violence recorded the program for use on Forward Radio. You can listen to the radio program here.
Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care will make this presentation, free of charge, to any organization or group in Kentucky. Just let us know: nursenpo@aol.com. 502 636 1551
Paul Hoppe, Kay Tillow, Charlie Casper, and Harriette Seiler at the Floyd’s Fork Democratic Club meeting.
On January 20, 2026, the Floyd’s Fork Democratic Club hosted a community discussion on the health care crisis.
Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care set the stage with a power point presentation on the current costs and outcomes of our U. S. system. The U. S. is 49th in life expectancy and, according to the Commonwealth Fund, has a failing health care system ranking at the bottom when compared to other wealthy countries. Yet the U. S. spends double, per capita, what those comparable nations spend.
No wonder we have an affordability crisis! Participants engaged in a vigorous question and comment session. The meeting was open to the public.
KSPH offers this same presentation, for free, to any organization in the state of Kentucky. Write to nursenpo@aol.com to make arrangements.
The Washington Post editorial predictably ignores research showing that a single-payer system would save hundreds of billions of dollars—and tens of thousands of lives—each year.
Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care on the Big Four Bridge in 2014
An editorial published on Christmas by the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post inveighed against supporters of Medicare for All in the United States, pointing to the struggles of Britain’s chronically underfunded National Health Service as a “cautionary tale” while ignoring research showing that a single-payer system would save the US hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives each year.
On Dec. 2, 2025, Claudia Fegan, MD, National Coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in Washington, D. C. She put forward the solution, Improved Medicare for All, a national single payer program, free from profit.
This was a full committee hearing on: Making Health Care Affordable Again: Healing a Broken System.
Dr. Fegan’s testimony begins at 59:29. The video is at the link.
Dr. Edward Roberts founded the Post Clinic in 1996 because he wanted to help patients with free health care in Mount Sterling. Linda Blackford
Inside Mount Sterling’s city limits, past the food pantry and vast Victorian piles on Main Street, there’s a quiet street with a brick building with a small sign that says simply: “Post Clinic.” But inside the nondescript building, medical personnel are hard at work filling cavities, making X-rays and diagnosing such Kentucky ailments as high blood pressure and diabetes. But money never exchanges hands. Since its founding in 1996, the Post Clinic has lived up to its founders’ desire to help people get medical care for free.
Drs. Ellen and Edward Roberts, both had practices in Mount Sterling, but wanted to do more for patients who couldn’t afford their regular services.
“Medical debt is the greatest driver of bankruptcy in Kentucky,” Edward Roberts said recently as he gave a tour of the clinic wearing a baseball cap emblazoned with “Single Payer Health Care.”
November 2 to 4 was a fantastic fall weekend in Bowling Green. KSPH staffed a table and talked to scores of workers. Many signed the petition for National Single Payer, Improved Medicare for All, free from profit. The theme of the convention was “Stand Up, Fight Back.”
On October 18, 2025, Kentuckians gathered in over 25 cities and towns to express their concerns. In Louisville where thousands protested, Jill Harmer and Harriette Seiler passed out over 900 Improved Medicare for All flyers. In Morehead, over 300 demonstrated at Fountain Park where speakers competed with the constant car honking in support. Morehead is the home of one of Kentucky’s 35 hospitals that are at-risk of closure in the face of Medicaid cuts and inadequate funding. Kay Tillow addressed an enthusiastic crowd calling for the enactment of a national single payer health care system, free from profit and covering everyone. Such an Improved Medicare for All system would save and sustain those hospitals by funding operating costs. Many signed the single payer petition.
On Oct. 3 and 4, Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care took their message to the Fairdale Fair where country music singers with ample amplification played in the carnival atmosphere.
Paul Hoppe, known as Mike in Fairdale, hails from there and did the work to set up and staff the booth. Jill Harmer, working from her wheelchair, reached out to everyone with a smile. She used her fluent Spanish to tell a family of the free clinic where she does translation.
While a few were distracted by the media barrage blaming immigrants for everything, more were concerned about health care and many signed the single payer petition.
Jill Harmer spreading the word about Enhanced Medicare for All, a national single payer system, at the Fairdale Fair.
Health care is at the heart of this and every contract fight. In Chattanooga, Volkswagen workers, who voted for the UAW in April 2024, are battling for a contract and taking a vote on strike authorization. In a UAW survey, VW Chattanooga workers said inferior health care benefits and skyrocketing out-of-pocket expenses have contributed to widespread financial hardship, debt and, in many cases, a decision to forgo necessary medical care altogether. In a statement earlier this year, the UAW affirmed its commitment to fight for Medicare for All.
Every working-class person deserves decent health care. No one should have to choose between seeing a doctor and putting food on the table. But that’s exactly what our current health care system does. It robs workers of dignity, drains union power at the bargaining table, and leaves too many of us behind. That’s why the UAW supports the Medicare for All Act—because no one should have to rely on the generosity of their boss to see a doctor or get the care they need.
Autoworkers know this all too well. During the Great Recession, Big Three automakers slashed retiree health care for new hires as part of bailout-era concessions. Now, a new generation of autoworkers are retiring years before they qualify for Medicare—but without employer-provided health care. As a result, they’re left in limbo, scraping by or skipping care entirely, too old to work but too young to die. Meanwhile, the companies are raking in record profits, lining shareholders’ pockets, and abandoning the very workers who make this industry run.
We need a system where everyone, union or not, has access to high-quality, comprehensive health care. Right now, unions like the UAW are forced to spend massive bargaining power just to defend what should be a basic human right. Companies try to force us to leave wage gains, retirement security, and work-life balance on the table just for our members to be able to have health insurance. Imagine what we could win if we didn’t have to fight tooth and nail just to see a doctor.
Take Volkswagen. The company made $92.4 billion in operating profit over the last four years and hauled in $351 billion in revenue in 2024 alone. Yet in Chattanooga, where workers are bargaining for their first contract, 73% say they’ve had to choose between health care and essentials like rent or food—or gone into debt or bankruptcy to afford medical bills. This is corporate greed at its ugliest: executives cashing checks while the working class gets left behind. And it’s happening across the industries the UAW represents.
We commend Senator Sanders, Representative Jayapal, and Representative Dingell for their leadership on this legislation and applaud vocal champions like Representative Ocasio-Cortez who are pushing to make Medicare for All the law of the land. Because until we take profit out of our health care system, workers will continue to pay the price—with their paychecks, their health, and their lives.
