HEALTH CARE (FOR ALL) FAIR AT THE HILL COMMUNITY ROOM, NOVATO

Brian Stompe and Eileen Prendiville

The Novato OneCareNOW Health Care (for All) Fair on March 3 was Marin County's most brilliant event so far. Seven different groups had booths, bringing together the California Nurses Assn.(CNA), The California Physicians Alliance (CaPA), the California School Employees Assn.(CSEA), HomeCARES, the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Marin County, the Novato Democratic Club, and Health Care for All-Marin. Each booth had a different activity. Dr. Gail Altschuler, with CaPA, offered weight assessments; CNA took blood pressures; HCA challenged attendees to play Health Care Jeopardy; the LWV did HICAP counseling; CSEA
showed the Health Care Solution.

Buying a raffle ticket

A number of local businesses donated prizes, as did many individuals, and our raffle ended up with 17 prizes. So it was a happy day for 17 people, some of whom are now taking guitar lessons, learning French, or consulting a lawyer -- all for free.

Brian Stompe, Carole Dillon-Knutson, Thomas Sorensen

Barry Massie, chief of cardiology at the SF Veterans Medical Center, gave a superb presentation, highlighting the successes of the VA hospitals versus our frightfully fraught, failing, for-profit system. David Glick delivered his ever-popular rap.

One of the highlights was the debut of "La Cockamanie," a 6-minute play, in which a poor victim (Greg Brockbank) finds himself a patient in an ER with a badly broken leg. His insurance won't pay for an operation, and the device salesman finally refers him to a tree surgeon, "who has had a lot of experience dealing with limbs." The piece finishes with a rendition of La Cockamanie, a great song by Peter Conn, co-director of the Santa Barbara Chapter.

Finale of La Cockamanie

LA COCKAMANIE
Chorus:
1)La Cockamamie
La Cockamamie
Health care system we have here.
It's so horrendous,
it's so atrocious,
and the cost is way too dear.

Verse 1
Health care costs continue soaring
higher each and every day
politicians are just snoring,
special interests have their way.

Is it really so surprising
that it causes so much strife?
As we wait for the solution
it's your money or your life.

Chorus
So why not change it?
So why not change it?
H-C-A will lead the way
to single payer, to universal,
care in Cal-i-forn-eye-eh

Greg Brokbank in La Cockamanie

Verse 2
Only you can make things better.
Decent care for all's a right.
Send elected folks a letter.
Urge them to support our fight.

Everyone will pay his portions
Everyone will get good cay-er.
Don't believe the false distortions.
Show support for single pay-er.