| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Ray Stever, President
New Jersey One Plan One Nation
ray@njoneplan.org
www.njoneplan.org
Health Care Supporters To Hold "Hands Off Our Medicare!" Rally
Don't Let Congress Cut Medicare: Improve It and Expand It to All
Coalition Says Medicare Is the Solution, Not the Problem
Rep. Donald Payne (D-10th Dist.) and New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver are expected to address healthcare advocates from a broad range of organizations and senior citizens who are coming together in Newark on Saturday, July 30th, to celebrate Medicare's 46th birthday and to tell Congress, "Hands Off Our Medicare!" The event is being organized by the New Jersey One Plan One Nation coalition, whose President Ray Stever says "Medicare didn't cause our budget problems. The financial meltdown did that. Don't let people use the deficit as an excuse for attacking the best healthcare program this country has ever had. Instead, let's see how an expansion of Medicare can help us solve our budget problems, prevent layoffs, and help families and businesses cope with the rising cost of healthcare. Medicare is the solution, not the problem."
What: Press conference to celebrate the 46th Birthday of the Medicare program
When: Saturday, July 30, at 11 a.m.
Where: New Community Manor Senior building, 545 Orange Street, Newark, New Jersey. Parking---Use the St. Rose of Lima church parking lot at corner of Orange and Gray Streets. Entrance on Gray Street.
Who:
• Ray Stever, President, New Jersey One Plan OneNation Coalition
• Congressman Donald Payne
• New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver
• Larry Hamm from the Peoples' Organization for Progress
• Noel Christmas from the Utility Workers Union ofAmerica
• Deborah Huber from the National Organization forWomen-NJ
• Representatives from CodePink, Healthcare-Now, GreenParty-NJ, as well as Labor.
Note: Senior citizens and coalition members will be available for interviews.
Medicare was signed into law on July 30, 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson as part of the Great Society vision for America. Medicare is a government-run insurance program that currently provides coverage for nearly 48 million elderly Americans and people with disabilities. Not only has Medicare provided access to life-saving care, it has kept millions out of bankruptcy.
"Our retirees paid into the system all their working lives, as we are doing now. Our elderly are struggling to make ends meet under the current system. It's outrageous for Congress even to consider cutting their Social Security and Medicare just to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires," said Ray Stever, president of New Jersey One Plan, One Nation Coalition. "Our retirees didn't cause the financial crisis. Wall Street did. So why should our elderly and disabled people be the ones to pay the price? That's why we're saying, "Keep your hands off Medicare and Social Security!"
Medicare is far more efficient than private insurance. Medicare's overhead is only about 3%, as opposed to about 11% for the MedicareAdvantage programs and as much as 30% for many private insurance plans. New Jersey One Plan One Nation's affiliate Healthcare-Now! (http://www.healthcare-now.org/campaigns/win-win) estimates that if a Medicare for All plan were established nationwide, the state government of New Jersey would save more than $2.6 billion per year because the payroll tax to fund the expanded Medicare program would be far less than what the state is currently paying for health insurance premiums. Furthermore, the state would be freed of its $60 billion unfunded obligation to provide for retirees' healthcare benefits. County and local governments would also save millions.
The New Jersey One Plan, One Nation Coalition is a labor and grassroots coalition that advocates single-payer health care for allAmericans. It uses HR 676 - the United States National Health Care Act, also known as Expanded and ImprovedMedicare for All -- as a template. Congressman Payne is a co-sponsor of that legislation.
"Medicare is so much more efficient than private health insurance that the New Jersey state government would save about $2.6 billion per year if we bought our state workers' health insurance through Medicare instead of through private insurance," said Stever, of One Plan, One Nation Coalition. "If we had Medicare for all, we wouldn't be laying off Teachers, Police, Fire Fighters and other state workers. County and local governments and school boards would also save millions per year. So would businesses and nonprofits such as churches. So would taxpayers and the self-employed. Medicare for all would solve our budget problem and stimulate New Jersey's economy. That's why we don't want to wait for a nationwide Medicare for All system. We can establish our own statewide system in New Jersey."
Stever noted that the U.S. spends nearly two and a half times as much per person on healthcare as the people of any other industrialized country. Yet we rank 37th in the overall quality of the care we receive. Plus, Americans face a real threat of being bankrupted by medical bills, even if they have insurance. A Harvard University study published in 2009 in the American Journal of Medicine found that medical problems were a major contributing factor in nearly two thirds of all personal bankruptcy cases. Most of the medically bankrupt were solidly middle class and nearly 80% had medical insurance at the start of the bankrupting illness.
"Saving all that money on healthcare means that there will be fewer layoffs and other cutbacks," says Stever.
Healthcare providers would also benefit from a Medicare forAll system. Physicians for a National Health Program (www.pnhp.org) estimates that streamlining payment through a single, nonprofit payer like Medicare would save $400 billion annually, enough to provide coverage for all of the uninsured people in the United States.
Medicare is the Solution, NOT the Problem!
Sources:
Data on potential savings to New Jersey government from Medicare for All, according to Healthcare-Now!'s Win-Win Campaign: http://www.healthcare-now.org/...
Study on role of illness and medical debt on personal bankruptcy in the United States: http://www.pnhp.org/new_bankru... |
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