Nurse Healers by Kate Loving Shenk

Day #89 of the 360 Day Blogging Challenge!

Daily Prayer For Healing-01/29/2010-Your Prayer For Today.

Hilde Sarkisyan says her daughter, Nataline, featured in 1/26/2010 prayer, and died because Cigna denied and delayed care, is now an Angel in Heaven interceding on the behalf of all Americans to get them Healthcare.

Since so many have died for the same reason, I can't help but imagine all of the Angels who are working behind the dimensions on behalf of what is ethically and morally as well as fiscally sound, for all--just as the case for Civil Right's seemed to pass, by Divine Intervention.

Today's prayer touches on these things--and much more!!

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Single Payer Lensography

Single Payer Healthcare Reform In Pennsylvania

via squidoo.com

We rallied for Single Payer Healthcare reform at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg PA on October 20, 2009. (Pictured here is the Rotunda, as seen looking straight up from the inside of that historic building!

Pennsylvania may well be the first State to enact Single Payer in America. The commonwealth wil save 2 plus billion dollars the first year it is put into place.

I am a nurse. The lack of healthcare access and the suffering this creates is one of the number one reasons for burnout in my profession.

Thanks to all the good people who came out and spoke for such a worthy cause, and thanks to the 1,500 people who showed up to show their support.

Yes WE Can!!

Posted via web from kateloving's posterous

How Single Payer Will Save PA $335 Million Dollars--A Year!!

This is a speech I gave Before City Controllers In The State Of PA about how much money Pennsylvanians will save when we enact Single Payer Legislation!

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Here Is What I Said:

Hello! My name is Kate Loving Shenk. I've been a nurse working in the trenches of healthcare delivery and now am also a volunteer for Healthcare 4 All PA.

We have a healthcare Single Payer House Bill and Senate Bill--HB 1660 and SB 400 that Philadelphia City Council, West Reading and Parts of Pittsburgh municipalities have voted on and passed.

We hope that Lancaster is next.

As a nurse, I see the people everyday who suffer because of employee based health care delivery. I am fully aware and compassionate about patients not getting coverage for their healthcare needs and lose their homes and often their lives as a result.

But today I am here to tell you how much Single Payer would save Pennsylvania in dollars and cents.

So far, these are the numbers we gathered from 17 counties listed on your sheet.

(Holding up sheet).

And these are the spread sheets where we got our numbers.

(Holding up 17 envelops holding the spread sheets where we worked out the numbers).

The numbers represent cities, municipalities, county governments and school boards, all of which is based on 2008 information. The savings would even be greater in 2009.

The formula is simple: Take the healthcare costs of employees and retirees, and also look at the total payroll. Based on these numbers, we calculate savings.

For example, say the payroll is 10 million dollars, and payout for healthcare is 2 million.

Business employers under our Single Payer plan would pay 10% of payroll to healthcare, so savings per person is $1 million dollars.

What is not included in these numbers are the savings for Workman's Comp, Auto Insurance and administrative costs, all solely based on Health Insurance Costs.

Philadelphia would save $300,000,000 dollars a year alone but without Single Payer will have a $5 billion shortfall over five years.

We are the only industrialized country out of 34 countries without Single Payer Healthcare.

I think PA will be the first to pass Single Payer in the U.S.A.--and as Pennsylvania goes, so goeth the nation.

Then Hope WILL Win. 

See My Single Payer Lensography!!

Health Care Reform

Our Single Payer Rally was a success!! The press was there and we even got coverage on a local Cable Network. We Twittered about the event; PCN (Pennsylvania Cable Network) filmed the whole thing.

I enjoyed meeting Larry Smith, star of Michael Moore's SiCKO. He said he is able to travel a little more with wife Donna, who spoke at the rally. And both of them have been healthy since their illnesses, which was highlighted  in the movie SiCKO.

Pictured here is the very passionate Chuck Pennachio, who is front and center when it comes to passing Single Payer here in the Commonwealth. We are very fortunate and dare I say blessed to have him working for this cause here. Jerry Policoff and Chuck are instrumental in getting HB1660 to the point where it is, now.

I spoke with a few fellow Pregressive 4 Pennsylvania friends at the rally, and we discussed all the meetings we had for Single Payer sitting around Jerry's table, hashing out strategy and writing and rewriting brochures for the Single Payer HB 1660/SB 400.

And now here we are. At the rally.

Next week, four of us will be at the annual meeting for all the Mayors in PA, meeting at the newly opened Convention Center in downtown Lancaster. The meeting will last three days. This will mostly be an opportunity to discuss health care reform with all the Mayors, and all the other politicians who will be attending the event, including Health Insurance Executives.

Could there be a rumble??

The good news for all of us is that the Mayors have already endorsed Single Payer. So we do not have to convince anyone. We just have to show up.

Savings to the Commonwealth will be $353,000,000 when Single Payer is passed here in Pennsylvania.

Here is the check that we then took to Governor Rendell's office after the rally!!

Pretty impressive, isn't it?

I made a Squidoo Lens about the rally, complete with video footage and more pictures!!

These are indeed exciting times. I know that passing Single Payer is one of the biggest and most important event of my lifetime, and the best thing I can do for future generations, and also the best possible way I can be of service to my country.

But we do need more troops!! Please consider joining this great cause!!!

Kate Loving Shenk

Single Payer Rally 6/11/09, Harrisburg PA Capitol Steps, 11 am EST

Donna Smith Of SicKo fame will be one of our Speakers!!

Download SP-Harrisburg June 11, 2009 Rally ( 5-25-09)

The above link is a flyer for the rally we are holding on June 11th on the Capitol steps in Harrisburg.  The event is a work in progress, and we’ll send out more info as the event evolves, but it is going to be both an enjoyable experience and an important one.  We need to demonstrate to the media and to our Legislators that the people of Pennsylvania are serious about getting single-payer healthcare bill HB 1660 and SB 400 passed and signed into law.

 

Please spread the word to everyone you know, and please bring everyone who can walk, ride, drive or crawl to Harrisburg on June 11th.

 

Within a few days the HC4APA web site will be a reliable repository for up-to-date information on this event.  We hope to have car pools organized (please let me know if you need a ride or are planning to drive and have room for passengers).  You can also get there by train or bus, and there will be plenty of parking if you drive.  You are also encouraged to come early and lobby members of the Legislature and/or their staffs before the rally.

 

See you in Harrisburg.  Write down the date:

 

June 11th at 11 AM (live entertainment); speakers at 1130 AM until 1230 PM… on the capitol steps in Harrisburg!

 

Rural Republican Caucus: Our Testimony Regarding Single Payer, Guaranteed Healthcare For All In Pennsylvania

Healthcare for All Pennsylvania held a public hearing on HB 1660: the Family and

Business Healthcare Security Act on 3/18/09 at the State Capitol Building in

Harrisburg, PA.

Our audience was the Pennsylvania Rural  Republican Healthcare Caucus,

per invitation of caucus chair Representative Kerry Benninghoff, Republican of

Centre County, Northern Pennsylvania.

The testifiers were Dr. Bill Davidson, (cardiologist), Alan Jacobs, (business leader), 

Janice Horn, (League Of Women Voters), Wes Fisher, (medical student), Chuch Pennacchio 

(Executive Director Of Healthcare PA), and me, Kate Loving Shenk, (Nurse Healer).

Everyone gave eloquent testimony and the Caucus was intensely interested, 

leaning forward, and listening and nodding.

Dr. Davidson said, "The American people need to send a clear message to our 

legislators. In order for people to speak with a clear voice, they must grow wise to the

propaganda that has distracted and divided them in the past.

"For instance, is providing healthcare to everyone a Communist Plot or simply a good

idea that appeals to everyone of good will?

"Do we understand that as in Canada, where most of the care is delivered by private

physician, a single payer system here would give everyone their choice of privately

practicing physicians in hospitals?

"Do we allow the pharmaceutical industry to hold us hostage with exorbitant prices or 

do we group negotiate with them like the Veteran's Administration, who get medicines for

40% less?

"Do we accept the mantra that raising taxes is always a negative, or do we look at the 

bottom line that shows that after eliminating premiums, co-pays, deductibles etc, most 

of us will pay less that we do now?

"Do we accept the lies about waiting lines causing premature deaths in other countries or

examine the facts that show that the medical outcomes in these countries are no worse

than ours while their elderly live longer and their infants are healthier?

"Do we accept that the loss of a job means you lose your medical insurance and go bankrupt,

and that often, we lose a job when we are sick and most in need of health insurance?

Or do we provide a system like the rest of the industrialized world where employment is 

not connected to health insurance, and being stuck in a dead end job because of "health benefits"

is not a reality nor was it ever considered a necessity?

"Do we accept the notion that the government can't do anything right including Medicare with a 3%

overhead or stay with Blue Cross and Aetna with their 20% overhead, multimillion CEO's and 

pre-existing conditions?"

Dr. Davidson finished by saying that the medical insurance industry is hard at work to control

the dialogue regarding healthcare reform in this country. Any discussion that leaves out

Single Payer will also be leaving out  middle America.

The choice is ours but the longer we delay, the more we suffer.

Medical student Wes Fisher is the regional director of AMSA, American Medical Association, which is an

independent association for medical students in this country.

Amsa stands behind Guaranteed Healthcare For All. It has specifically supported a publicly funded, 

privately delivered healthcare delivery system.

A large number of medical students commuted to the State Pennsylvania Legislature twice in 2008 

to rally and lobby for HB 1660 and SB 400.

Wes said he has accumulated a $300,000 debt. This debt combined with the infamous malpractice suit reputation 

in PA makes it easy for many if not most of our medical students to leave PA and take jobs elsewhere. 

The retention rate of medical students is quite low, around 7%.

Wes said he would happily stay in Pennsylvania with passage of HB 1660/SB 400, as would many

if not all of his student colleagues, due to real tort  reform already spelled out in the bill(s)

and a system which provides healthcare including dental care to all.

My testimony included the many scenarios I have encountered over the years as a practicing RN and

CRNP (Certified Nurse Practitioner).

One night I was working in a Trauma Unit, when a recently retired man came in after suffering 

from a major stroke when he stopped taking his blood pressure medicine.

He stopped taking it because his health insurance inexplicably dropped him due to a glitch in the 

system right after he retired.

I said to the nurses there, "Is this a rare event, people getting cut off health insurance after they retire?"

And they said, "It happens all the time."

I told this story to the caucus, as well as many other shockers.

I also told the caucus that this is not a political issue.

It is good for business.

It is good for the economy.

And it is the right thing to do.

Kate Loving Shenk

-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called "Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny." The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation
Check out Kate's Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
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Kate Loving Shenk Nursing Career Transformation Sign Up HERE For Your *FREE* Newsletter For Nurses And Healers Your e-mail address is safe with me--see privacy notice on my website!

http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation/simplenewslettersignup.html

How To Use Social Media To Get The Word Out About Single Payer!

I am In The Purple Vest, Twittering Away At Our Local Organizational Meeting To Pass HB 1660/ SH 300!!

There are many social networking platforms.

My Space was perhaps one of the first and was considered something only kids
liked to use but now many adults like and use My Space, too.

Where I work in health care, if a crime is committed by a juvenile, Law Enforcement
will investigate the My Space page of the suspect and often can make an arrest based on
what they find there.

Face Book is considered an adult social networking site and many people use it to
post pictures and share them with family and friends.

The other two social networking sites I use, and there are many more, are Twitter
and Squidoo. Squidoo was founded by Seth Godin whose most recent enlightened
business book is called "Tribes."

In my humble opinion, Face Book alone does not get the word out about Single Payer.

As an example, I love Dustin Moore's Face Book page on Single Payer, but he could use
Twitter and Squidoo to maximize his efforts there.

Let us use Dustin's Face Book page about Single Payer as an example as to how he
could get word out to more people.

First allow me to explain Twitter and Squidoo.

Twitter is a network of millions, many of whom are business builders, many of whom have
to pay high Health Insurance Premiums for themselves, family and employees.

Some of them are so wealthy they don't care how much they have to pay.

But many are not.

Twitter is a blogging platform where you can only use 140 characters to get your message out.
You must be concise in your wording, which is also excellent writing practice!

Squidoo is a social networking community where you build what is called a "lens," a focused
page about anything you are passionate about.

Recently I did a page on Donna Smith, Sandra Strauss, and Chuck Pennacchio-one page each-
about what they have to say about Single Payer.

Twitter, Face Book and Squidoo all interface together, with Twitter being the pivotal platform.

Whatever I do on Twitter feeds into Face Book, if I set it up that way.

What ever I do on Squidoo feeds directly into Face Book and Twitter, if I direct it to.

So let us return to Dustin's excellent Single Payer Face Book page.

Let's say he had 1-2,000 Twitter followers. Anytime he updated his Face Book page, he could do a
post on Twitter about that, then redirect the Twitter message back to his main Face Book page.

These interface applications are excellent ways to communicate about our message and get
passage of HB 1660 on board much faster.

You can look at Twitter as a Community Journalism Tool.

Those of you with Blackberrys or iPhones can communicate about what goes on when you are at a
meeting for Single Payer. You can take a picture of people at the meeting and immediately post this
on Face Book and Twitter.

You can post an insight  or piece of news directly to Twitter and immediately reach thousands of
people, because if others find what you have said to be noteworthy, they will "re-tweet" your message
to all of their followers.

Thus the beauty of viral news making is created.

When ever there is an earthquake or some other natural disaster, a person at the scene will twitter
their first hand account, and the news goes out to Twitterland before Cnn or MSNBC can access it.

When the plane went down on the Hudson a few weeks ago, a person saw it go down from his office window.
He immediately Twittered his friend over at the Aviation Rescue Office, and rumor has it that
this is why rescue workers were on the scene so fast.

One rescue worker twittered on her way to the downed plane.

Her message read: "On way 2 downed plane in Hudson 2 see if there R any survivors."

This is how we all knew before the major news agencies even got word, although now CNN and MSNBC
are on Twitter, too.

So these are powerful tools, folks.

Let us use them to pass HB 1660 here in Pennsylvania.

Thank you.

Kate Loving Shenk

-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called "Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny." The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation
Check out Kate's Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Kate Loving Shenk Nursing Career Transformation Sign Up HERE For Your *FREE* Newsletter For Nurses And Healers Your e-mail address is safe with me--see privacy notice on my website!

http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation/simplenewslettersignup.html

http://www.squidoo.com/chuckpennacchio

http://www.squidoo.com/whatwouldjesusdo?

http://www.squidoo.com/donnasmith

                          

Single Payer Gains New Ground In The Battle For Healthcare Reform In Pennsylvania

Chuck Pennacchio, Executive Director Of Health Care For All Pa

Our grassroots organizing campaign to get an economic impact study to pass HB 1660,

a Single Payer, guaranteed healthcare program for all Pennsylvanians, also called "Family 

and Business Healthcare Security Act" has reached higher ground as three separate events 

converge that bode extremely well for the eventual passage of the bill.

Here is a summery of these three events:

 

1) Independence Blue Cross of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh based Highmark Blue Shield were poised to merge

and take over health insurance coverage here in Pennsylvania.

But both companies withdrew the merger for reasons that had to do with the fact that the merger would

reduce competition for the health care dollar plus an unwillingness on the part of both companies to 

give up the "Blue Cross-Blue Shield" brand each company spend seventy years developing.

Bottom line, the merger was not going to be approved very likely because of activist opposition by groups such 

as Healthcare for All Pa.

The merger got lost in the squabble over all of these details.

Single Payer activists are confident that the failure of this merger will dramatically boost the prospects

that the Pennsylvania State legislature will pass HB 1660/SB 300, Universal Healthcare, the "Family and Business 

Healthcare Security Act" that Governor Rendell repeatedly said he will sign.

Executive Director of Healthcare For All Pennsylvania, Chuck Pennacchio, responded to the January 22, 2009

news by saying," The dramatic defeat of the previously "untouchable" health insurance giants signals a power

shift in Harrisburg that nobody saw coming.

,

Added Pennacchio, "Healthcare for All Pennsylvania's 8,000 members have spent much of the last year fighting 

this monopoly merger, while advocating for the  proven Single Payer Solution--both on the basis of economics,

human decency and simple common sense. Today we are victorious in blocking the expansion of an industry

that causes the loss of 31 cents out of every healthcare dollar: an industry that profits off our suffering, and puts

95% of us at risk for medical bankruptcy should we experience a medical catastrophe. Having achieved the first 

of our two goals, we are now poised to enact the law called "Family and Business Healthcare Security Act."

The "Family and Business Healthcare Security Act " will establish a healthcare policy in the Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania by the following terms: publicly-funded, privately provided, guaranteed, comprehensive,

quality, affordable healthcare for all temporary and legal Pennsylvanian  citizens, plus migrant farm workers and 

out of state students.

Every body In. Nobody out.

 

2) Philadelphia City Council unanimously voted to support HB 1660 and SB 300.

Passage of HB 1660/SB 300 would give the City of Philadelphia a estimated $500 million surplus, more than 

enough to cover Mayor Nutter's projected budget shortfall of 2 billion dollars over the next 5 years, 

Additionally, HB 1660/SB 300 would guarantee access to comprehensive health care at much less cost than what average

families are now paying, generate thousands of new healthcare delivery jobs, save an average business that provides healthcare,

an estimated 25%-60% on health care costs a year, reduce property tax, (in theory) cut auto-insurance rates, (in theory) reduce worker's 

compensation costs, retain existing businesses and encourage the development of new businesses, and reverse 

the physician and nursing shortages facing cities and rural areas all across the State.

 

3) Healthcare For All Pennsylvania  are now organizing a state wide blitz to pass HB 1660/SB 300 legislation.

Eighteen local and regional organizers met last weekend at the Council of Churches Building in Harrisburg for training 

on how to pass theHB 1660 and SB 300.

We learned proven organizing stradegies and tactics at the meeting for enacting Pennsylvania's "Family and Business 

Healthcare Security Act."

Pennsylvania Senate Bill 300 and House Bill 1660 will soon be reintroduced in the legislature and enjoy

unique political advantages, placing the legislation on the inside track among universal healthcare proposals

across the nation.

Pennacchio said at the meeting, " Pennsylvania led the charge that established the nation's independence

from British tyranny in the eighteenth century. Today we declare our independence from profit-centured health

insurance company tyrants who systematically highjack health care decisions and funding to maximize profits,

perks, and CEO salaries."

Workshops included education, organization, media and social media outreach, internal and external 

communication and fund raising.

Unique public advantages include: promised signature by Governor Rendell upon passage of the bill;  funding 

authority contained within the legislation itself; bi-partisan co-sponsorship of the bill; overwhelming bi-partison

support for an economic impact study on HB 1660/ SB 300; public opinion support of legislative goals (68%,

5/1/08, Quinnipaic Survey of Pa).

Thanks to Chuck Pennacchio for providing me the information to write this article! And thanks to Chuck for his

never-ending persistence in achieving healthcare to all Pennsylvania citizens.

Thanks also to all members of Healthcare For All Pa, and a special thanks to Jerry Policoff, who with Chuck, 

pioneers this crucial and important work.

Kate Loving Shenk

-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called "Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny." The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation
Check out Kate's Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Kate Loving Shenk Nursing Career Transformation Sign Up HERE For Your *FREE* Newsletter For Nurses And Healers Your e-mail address is safe with me--see privacy notice on my website!

http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation/simplenewslettersignup.html

http://www.squidoo.com/autobiographyofayogi

                           

Single Payer: Good For Business

Morton Mintz sat on our panel for "Guaranteed Health Care For All,"
a Forum that Progressives For Pennsylvania organized 9/18/08. He is
a media critic, freelance journalist at this point in his long and
illustrious (sixty year) career.

He was a reporter for two St. Louis newspapers, the Star-Times and Globe
Democrat from 1946-1958; and at the Washington Post, 1958-1988.

Morton Mintz wrote the article, "Single Payer: Good For Business"
for The Nation Magazine, November 15, 2005.

Jerry Policoff created a PA Business Healthcare Report based, in part,
on this and another Morton Mintz piece, as well as articles about
Single Payer in the New York Times, a survey from the Kaiser Family
Foundation, Pittsburgh Business Journal of Milwaukee and the
Philadelphia Business Journal.

Why is publicly-funded, privately-provided healthcare best for Business
in Pennsylvania?

*Higher quality, comprehensive healthcare at less cost

*Saves 25% on administrative overhead for doctors, hospitals and
patients

*Makes business budgeting and investing predictable and stable

*Ends nightmare negotiations with insurance carriers

*Generates strong job growth, starting with medical delivery
industries

*Makes PA businesses more competitive in the national and global
economies

*Leverages the Commonwealth's buying power to cut prescription
drug costs in half

*Shrinks property taxes, auto insurance and workman's compensation

*Funded through an annual fair tax that replaces an unfair premium/
co-pay/deductible that far outstrips inflation

Single payer, defined as publicly funded, privately delivered healthcare
for all, is a system which includes free choice of physicians and cuts taxes
for employers. Employers would no longer have to pay for medical care
under Workman's Compensation which, in 2002, according to Morton Mintz's
resources, costs them more than 38 billion dollars.

Automobile insurance rates would fall for everyone because the carriers
would no longer be liable for the medical and hospital bills of their
injured or sick employees.

Why doesn't Corporate America jump at this opportunity to embrace Single
Payer health care delivery?

Many small business owners do understand the ramifications of continuing
along the same reckless path of allowing Health Insurance providers to
dictate American healthcare delivery.

This is what a few business owners in Pennsylvania have to say:

"This year, our premiums went up 74%, which our agent thought was a mistake.
We have a woman who is terminally ill with cancer and the insurance
company stated this had nothing to do with our increase. No company,
large or small, can absorb that kind of cost or increase.

"So what? Drop our coverage? And how do you live with yourself?"
Scott Tyson, MD, CEO, Pediatrics South Pittsburgh. PA (60 employees).

"We work with the system we have, but it is broken, and it seems like
single payer is the way to go. We work very hard to try and insure our
employees because we feel it is our obligation. Every year we sit down and look
at our health plan. We make choices based on what should we cover; what
should we not cover; what should the deductible be; how much should we charge
employees when they go to the doctor's office. We make all those decisions.
Our employees end up going along for the ride. It's not right but it's the way it is.
It's my obligation to try and protect our plan and get the best, cheapest plan
I can for our employees so I can continue to provide health insurance for them."
Alan Jacobs, President, Isaac's Restaurant in South Central PA (700 employees).

"Our insurance rates have more than doubled in the last four years. We are paying
over 20% over our existing payroll just for health coverage, and at budget time,
you don't know what to expect. When you've had 25% increases, you pretty much have to say
we're going to to expect an increase of 35%, or higher.

"We are a for-profit organization: we can't afford to pay that and still make money.
Under single payer we'd save at least $50,000 which I could use to hire more
people. This past year we increased the deductible, and it was painful for us
to do that. If we pass single payer, we're going to attract business.
There is no manufacturer that won't want to locate to Pennsylvania because you
can predict your expenses year after year. You would have stable costs.

"And everybody's in and nobody's out."
Charlie Crystal, Owner and CEO, Mission Research, a software firm in Lancaster, PA

"I believe it's a moral obligation to provide healthcare for all employees. Six
years ago I was paying $176 a month per employee for their health benefits. Last
year it went up $577. This year it went up $627. They're telling me next year
it's going up another 20 or 30%, and it's not going to stop. It doesn't make moral sense.
It doesn't make political sense. And it doesn't make business sense."
Mike Stout, President, Steel Vally Printers of Pittsburgh PA (17 employees).

Morton Mintz interviewed Deborah Richter, a Vermont Physician, who believes publicly
financed and privately delivered healthcare system can be enacted in every state.
She believes that single payer should be conceived "as a public good, such as our
roads, education, police and fire protection."

She believes that if single payer is viewed as a practical issue as opposed
to a moral issue, then support for Guaranteed Universal Healthcare would gain
momentum overnight.

Doing well by doing good.

This is the reality that single payer would bring to all of us here in Pennsylvania.

Kate Loving Shenk

-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called "Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny." The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
http://www.katelovingshenk.com/blog
http://http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation
Check out Kate's Blog: http://nursehealers.typepad.com
And the Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/katelovingshenk
http://www.squidoo.com/thinkriches
http://doganddolphin.ning.com
http://nursehealers.typepad.com/dog_lovers_unite
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Kate Loving Shenk Nursing Career Transformation Sign Up HERE For Your *FREE* Newsletter For Nurses And Healers Your e-mail address is safe with me--see privacy notice on my website!http://www.katelovingshenk.com/nursingcareertransformation/simplenewslettersignup.html

 

Single Payer Minute 2