April 1, 2010
Since the reform bill passed 10 days ago, the single payer community has quickly and accurately identified the fundamental flaws of the legislation. PNHP released a statement on March 22 which cited the transfer of $447 billion in public money to further enrich and entrench the private insurance industry. CNA’s Rose Ann DeMoro posted a blog entry on the Huffington Post that detailed the bankruptcy risk that Americans will continue to bear with “comprehensive plans” that cover only 70% of actuarial value. Jane Hamsher published a fact sheet for Firedog Lake that busts several myths about the bill including the falsehood that the insurance industry hates the bill, “in fact the bill is almost identical to the proposal published by AHIP last year”. And several PNHP Californians were also in the news addressing the defects with the bill- Claudia Chaufan published a superb Op-Ed in the Sacramento Bee, Matt Hendrickson was interviewed by Al Jazeera, and Bob Vinetz had a letter to the editor published in the LA Times.
With this bulletin, CaPA/PNHP California (PNHP-CA) adds another line to the post reform discussion: what do we do as an organization and as a movement to ensure that the next round of healthcare reform results in single payer. In response to the marginalization of single payer in the press and the political arena, several members of CaPA/PNHP-CA have contributed to a work plan for reinvigorating our organization and our ability to influence future health reform. The plan is a working draft designed to stimulate criticism and improvement from our membership. The plan will be updated as we grow wiser and stronger. Two fundamental premises inspired the 2010 work plan: 1) every successful human rights movement is powered by grassroots action; 2) successful grassroots movements employ all the tools of modern legislative advocacy.
PNHP California 2010 Plan
Strategy: robust physician and health professional leadership is vital to the achievement of single payer in California. An effective grassroots movement of physicians and health professionals, in collaboration with other single payer organizations will eventually lead to single payer financing in California, the first step in a state-by-state route to a national health program.
Executive Director. CaPA/PNHP-CA will hire an executive director (ED) with political advocacy and grassroots development expertise. Our ED will assist our executive committee and activists in creation and execution of the annual work plan.
Political Advocacy. CaPA/PNHP-CA will implement a comprehensive single payer legislative advocacy network. The network will include constituent teams of PNHP members and their coalition partners in every State Assembly and State Senate District in the state focused on monthly actions to influence their legislators to pass SB810. CaPA/PNHP-CA will explore the viability of creating a 501(c)4 or a political action committee to further the organization’s objective.
Regional Chapters. CaPA/PNHP-CA has initiated a campaign to build local physician activism by providing both financial and organizational support to develop regional chapters. Regional chapters are critical to grassroots activism, since education, advocacy and growth are far more effective at the local level. We will begin with four regional chapters- Bay Area, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego with chapters in the central valley and central coast to follow.
Membership/activist growth plan. CaPA/PNHP-CA will implement a strategic plan for membership and activist recruitment. Membership growth strategies will include outreach to progressive physician organizations (e.g. Doctors For America, National Physicians Alliance, and Physicians for Social Responsibility), shared investment with PNHP to purchase booths at scientific assemblies and physician conventions in California and development of grand rounds specialists to seek out grand rounds opportunities in California. Activist development strategies will include regional chapter teach-ins where activist skills are developed among members and a new member outreach program that personally welcomes all new members, introduces them to regional chapter meetings and activities and invites them to participate in ways that suit their schedule and talents.
Medical Student Fellow. CaPA/PNHP-CA will continue the only PNHP medical student fellowship (MSF) in the country. The MSF will be renamed the Shearer MSF in memory of our former CaPA president, single payer champion and friend, John Shearer. The MSF will continue to cultivate student participation in the single payer movement but will also become a vital resource for regional chapters.
Communication Plan. CaPA/PNHP-CA will employ six items in their revised communication strategy: a new website, regular bulletins, modern networking tools and a media strategy. CaPA/PNHP-CA will soon announce a new name and logo that unequivocally identifies us with our national organization while acknowledging our particular focus on single payer in California. CaPA/PNHP-CA will unveil a new website which will provide both current news and video on California single payer issues, upcoming events throughout the state, and useful resources for educational and political activism and spanish language activists. We will produce monthly email bulletins that inform the membership on strategy, news and activism including reports from the monthly state and national conference calls. We will employ twitter and facebook to improve our internet outreach. We will exploit the media expertise of members, friends and PNHP National to develop a vigorous and sophisticated media outreach effort.
Annual Conferences. CaPA/PNHP-CA will host an annual statewide summer conference in Los Angeles to promote growth and communication within the California single payer community, encourage activist development and strengthen our political advocacy network. CaPA/PNHP-CA will also host a statewide conference in Sacramento in January to coincide with the student lobby day that will focus on our district advocacy network.
Over the coming month, CaPA/PNHP-CA will make 7 announcements regarding achievement of specific aspects of our 2010 plan. Please email us at pnhp.la@gmail.com with your thoughts and suggestions. Single payer is coming.