Guaranteed Healthcare

JANUARY 15th, 2009, Call to Action  
As MLK, Jr., proclaimed over 40 years ago: 

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

In honor of the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968), we are gearing up for the second national call-in day to Congress on Wednesday, January 15, 2009. 

So please join our national call-in. You may reach the main U.S. Capital switchboard at 202-224-3121, and ask to be transferred to your Representative’s office to express your support for single payer healthcare reform, HR676.  

Keeping calls brief and to the point is best.  It makes it easier for Congressional staff to log in your message(s), but don’t be afraid to do some educating about what you see happening to your patients and your profession..And don’t be embarrassed if you need to look up the contact information for your Congressional representatives – just check it out at  www.votesmart.org

As advocates for patients and as the most consistently trusted professions in our nation, RNs take seriously the commitment to healthcare justice and to passing healthcare reform that honors our historic efforts to improve healthcare for all. 

HR 676 is Rep. John Conyers’ single payer healthcare bill and has been reintroduced to 111th Congress, so we continue our work supporting the same bill number in the U.S. House of Representatives.  There are 86 co-sponsors of HR 676 from the 110th Congress who have been sworn into the 111th session.  This number will quickly grow because of the extensive lobby efforts already in motion. Our goal is to make sure elected officials hear from their constituents to again cosponsor HR 676 and help to effectively double the number of co-sponsors in the House.

Looking back, thank you to everyone who made the December 22nd call-in day a huge success.  By 11am that day, Senator Edward Kennedy's office reported to have already received over 1,000 phone calls!  Many congressional offices across the country were flooded with the message to support HR 676 and stop Massachusetts style health care reform from being used as a national model. The second call-in day on January 15th will target the Washington, D.C. Congressional offices.
       
Here's is how to escalate our efforts for the call-in action on January 15th:     
We recommend calling and/or faxing on this day to get your message through.  If possible, request to speak to the chief of staff or health policy/legislative aid, rather than leaving the message with whomever answers the phone.  If calling or faxing is not possible, you can also contact your members of Congress by email.
       
You may also wish to give your members contact information for one of your team's "experts" on HR676, just in case the Congressional office wants more information.  Or  give them Rep. Conyers' contact information or tell them to visit http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/       
      
We will be sending an email to remind you of the call-in day on Wednesday, January 14th.