Thursday, August 20, 2009

HONK IF YOU WANT HEALTH CARE

I have been thinking about making a sign with this message. There were two rallies at Warder Park yesterday afternoon. About 100 single payer supporters gathered along the sidewalk facing Court Ave. and walked carrying signs. We were peaceful and only chanted "What do we want, health care, when do we want it, now".

Inside the park were about the same number of people who carried signs with little red hands on them saying "Hands off of my health care". They were led by several speakers, one of whom was a physician who blogs under the name "Healthblogger". He was telling a group of people, about 60% of whom appeared to be of Medicare age, that the Government was trying to control too much of their health care. He described cases where patients would be told which doctor they could see with a single payer plan. WHAT???!!! Apparently this doctor is unaware of the stunts Humana has pulled. The Humana Medicare replacement policy known as PPO restricts its members to certain physicians who are in their network, many practices have been dropped from their plan. Or maybe he has not heard about the situation with Anthem and Norton Health Care. I felt genuinely sorry for these people.

And just in case you think our group consisted of a bunch of nut cases or people at the lower end of the gene pool. There are physicians, psychologists nurses, and college professors who support single payer, and these people are right in our area and some were present yesterday.

Please join us September 22, at 8:00PM on the Indiana side of the Second St. Bridge. We will join the "Mad As Hell Doctors" who have been touring the country and hold a vigil for the more than 47,000 people who have died in the past year for lack of health care. And be sure to bring a candle.