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HEALTH CARE “FAIR” TO PROMOTE SINGLE-PAYER
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

A health care “fair” to promote the advantages of a single-payer health care system will be held on Saturday, March 3, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Hill Community Room at 1560 Hill Road in Novato. There will be booths, games, a skit, a raffle, speakers, and face painting and other children’s entertainment provided by Lauren Lees. Barrie Massie, MD, Chief of Cardiology, at the SF Veterans Affairs Medical Center, will speak.

Dr. Gail Altschuler, of Novato’s Altschuler Clinic, specialists in weight loss, will be on hand for consultation, as will Fred Mayer, pharmacist and president of the pharmacists’ planning service. But the main focus of the fair is on educating attendees on why, in this year when competing health insurance reforms are dominating the agenda in Sacramento, a single-payer system is still by far the best option. Such a system was passed by the Legislature last year (SB 840) but was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who called it “socialized medicine,” a characterization vigorously disputed by single-payer proponents.

“Socialized medicine means the government owns the facilities and hires the health care providers, which is not the case under SB 840.” said Esther Wanning, the long-time director of the Marin Chapter of Health Care for All-CA, which advocates for a single-payer system.

“What a single-payer system would do is provide high-quality health care to all Californians for life, with choice of doctors, at an affordable price. It is the only reform that can do this. The other reforms leave us with a fragmented system, skyrocketing costs, inadequate coverage, and questionable care.”

Wanning stated that the savings and efficiency comes from eliminating the private health insurance companies, which now add 30 percent to health care costs. Under a single-payer system, everyone would instead be insured under a single new agency, which would negotiate low prices on pharmaceuticals and medical equipment and plan for primary and preventive care and future needs. Such systems allow other countries to get more and better care at half the price the USA pays, states Wanning. Senator Sheila Kuehl will re-introduce SB 840 later this month.

The Health Care “Fair” in Novato is part of the statewide OneCareNow campaign, which is holding an event every day in different and progressively larger cities for a year (San Rafael’s event will be on April 1st), highlighting the desperate need for real health-care reform. The final event will be in Los Angeles on Aug. 11.

“We’re bringing together many groups, all dedicated to the single-payer solution, to make a big impact with this fair,” says Leslie Balestreri, head of the Community Action Team planning the Novato Fair. Taking part are Health Care for All, the California School Employees Assn., the League of Women Voters, the Novato Democratic Club, the California Nurses Assn., the California Physicians Alliance, and HomeCARES.

Booths at the fair will offer such games as Health Jeopardy and Not-So-Trivial Pursuits. A short program will be held at 2:15, and various speakers will appear intermittently. A 3-minute version of “The Healthcare Solution” video will be shown continuously, accompanied by popcorn and lemonade. There is no admission charge. For more information, call 717-9053.