I have been communicating with a Doctor in Oregon who happens to be a member of the Physicians National Health Project. This national group of doctors and other medical professionals who strongly believe in the Single Payer program and have been pounding the sidewalks with unique and humorous protests rallies (to get the media attention) is a little bit different than your usual protesters.
The fact that doctors are taking the time to demonstrate is a new group that you don't think about when you call a rally. The presumption always was that they were too busy, the wouldn't "lower themselves" to public outcries and they made so money what did they have to protest about anyway. Well apparently, when it comes to healthcare, doctors are finding they are being hit with high insurance premiums, overhead running their offices, paper work which is staggering, protecting themselves from patients looking for a "deep pocket" and an excuse to sue (not that some doctors don't need a slap upside the head sometime for neglect) but are also having to juggle family life, mental days off, patient care (24 hours) and paying for school loans (like the rest of us). When you combine this with the overall economy having hit financial nest eggs, pensions, and retirement funds it isn't a wonder more people aren't in the street screaming. Meantime, we are all sitting and waiting to hear about the banks that were rescued with Obama's bailout, who other than Bank of America, you don't even see advertisements about "come on in" we got our act together now, "we are willing to share the wealth", being that you (the American taxpayer) saved our bacon! But you don't see this. So here is what my buddy Paul sent me on behalf of the Physicians in Oregon who do believe that Healthcare Reform really needs to be taken more seriously than the media would care to tell us. And I'd suggest writing him, he has an inexpensive video that would make you go "hugh, they are doing what?" . . . when you hear more about the history of healthcare in America and where all the thorny discussions are, that they didn't teach you in Social Studies (if you are over 45) or Health Science if you are under 40. Enjoy . . . and give me your opinion . . .
Mad As Hell Doctors
Who are we? We are members of Oregon PNHP who believe our health care system and political process are deeply flawed. They are both mostly about money and are not yielding results that are most beneficial to our communities. We expect those who agree with us to help us bring this message to those who haven’t yet figured this out. Doing so will require serious, national media attention.
· The Health Care Industry, through our corrupt political process, continues to manipulate our legislators to create public policy that values profits over public good. That’s what we are mad about!
· Unless we find immediate savings in our chaotic health care system (that is built around insurance companies and employers) and, then, focus on controlling costs, we will never be able to accomplish the moral imperative of true Universal Access without driving our government to insolvency.
· Accomplishing this will require a single risk pool, publicly financed, and administered by an independent, transparent, publicly accountable agency that is responsible for asking and answering the following question. How do “we” get the most health and the least suffering for the precious, limited resources, that we spend on health care?
Why a road trip? Getting the attention of those who aren’t already part of the choir requires that tap into their default “channels” of entertainment/information. By creating media events in communities across the country, we will infiltrate those “channels” long enough to deliver our very cogent message, believably delivered by articulate, sincere doctors who are committed to telling the truth.
What is our vision? We will tap into the growing anger that our legislators in Washington are being manipulated by campaign contributors. We will become the rallying cry for individuals and countless local/national groups who are fed up with status quo and “false-reform”. By virtue of our numbers and the inherent truth of our message, those same legislators will be given the courage to give us real reform that results in a sustainable Health Care System with real Universal Access.
What is the plan? Over the next few weeks, with our help, communities on our itinerary will prepare for and publicize our arrival. We will leave the Willamette Valley on September 8 in a painted motor home that will draw attention to us during meetings and rallies at which we will present our case. Documenting our progress with video uploads and daily conversations with National media, they will become increasingly interested in following us as we draw progressively larger crowds. When we penetrate The Beltway in the end of September, a caravan of cars will follow us to a public rally in which we will demand health care reform consistent with our message, stated above.
How will we accomplish this? We are currently involved in Stage One, in which we put up a substantial amount of our own money to hire Gary Jelinek (Dennis Kucinich’s 2004 Campaign Organizer) and Adam Klugman (a creative media consultant) to:
Stage Two is the trip. Successful fund raising is crucial to keeping Adam and Gary involved in the project, renting and “wrapping” a motor home, and traveling with a videographer who will document our progress, record peoples’ stories, and feed video clips to both the internet and national media on a daily basis. Subsequently, a video that captures the spirit of the trip will be produced.
Consistent with our vision, “we” will grow to include you and those organizations with whom our message resonates. Tax deductible contributions can be made through our website: www.MadAsHellDoctors.com.
Questions? Gary Jelinek at jelinekdoctors@gmail.com or Paul Hochfeld at phochfeld@msn.com
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