GIVE AMERICA A GIFT: One Nation. One Plan.

Monday, December 22: NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY FOR HR 676, Single-Payer Healthcare

GIVE AMERICA A GIFT: One Nation. One Plan. Call both our Senators and your Congress Member in Maryland. (see below)

The Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare/National Single Payer Coalition Steering Committee has adopted an action plan that includes two national call-in days to Congressional members. PDA is a key member organization of the Leadership Conference on Guaranteed Healthcare with California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, Healthcare-NOW! , and Physicians for a National Health Plan. The call-in days will focus coalition organizations on asking their membership to call individual members of Congress to support HR676.

The first national call-in day is Monday, December 22nd. Activists are asked to target their representatives in their home districts.
The second national call-in day is Thursday, January 15th. Activists will target the DC offices of their representatives.

Call both our Senators and your Congress Member in Maryland. (see below)

We also encourage activists to target Senator Kennedy's office on December 22nd. According to a letter he sent in response to a request to support HR 676, he stated "In recent weeks I have been working on legislation that will have bipartisan support and guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans and their families." We need to let him know that the only way to achieve this is by implementing single-payer national health care for all. Kennedy's in-district office can be contacted at Phone: 617-565-3170 / Fax: 617-565-3183. A draft message to his office is below.

Tips for Single-Payer Healthcare Activists participating in this effort:

We want to reach ALL members of Congress with our message. Current cosponsors should be thanked for their support and encouraged to get active behind HR 676. Non-cosponsors should be asked to get on board with HR 676 asap. Find the co-sponsors here. 

Keeping calls brief and to the point is best and not only makes your members more willing to make calls but also makes logging the issue and sending a clear message to Congressional members much more efficient.

Should the Congressional office want more information, you may give them Rep. Conyers' contact information or Healthcare-NOW!'s information.

Please keep track of your outreach efforts--especially reactions to the calls that your members may note. All of this information is critical as we track the support in Congress for HR 676. Please report back about the Call-In day to Healthcare-NOW!.

How to contact your representative: You can find your representatives contact information here. 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 Care Aide, rather than leaving the message with whomever answers the phone.

District	Name	Party
Senior	Senator Barbara Mikulski 202-224-4654	Democratic
Junior	Senator Benjamin Cardin 202-224-4524	Democratic
1	Rep.  Wayne Gilchrest* 202-225-5311	Republican
2	Rep.  C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger  202-225-3061	Democratic
3	Rep.  John Sarbanes 202-225-4016	Democratic
4	Rep.  Donna Edwards  202-225-8699	Democratic
5	Rep.  Steny Hoyer  202-225-4131	Democratic
6	Rep.  Roscoe Bartlett  202-225-2721	Republican
7	Rep.  Elijah Cummings  202-225-4741	Democratic
8	Rep.  Chris Van Hollen  202-225-5341	Democratic

* Lost bid for re-election. Incoming Congressperson is Frank Kratovil   (D)

Draft scripts:

HR676 Co-sponsor call: Hi, my name is ----------------. I am calling to thank Rep.  ___________________ for his/her support of HR676, John Conyers' National Health Insurance Act. Rep. Conyers plans to reintroduce HR676 shortly after the Congress is back in session in January, but I want to reaffirm my support for HR676, single payer healthcare legislation and ask Rep. ____________________ to do the same by signing on again as a co-sponsor working for true reform of this terrible healthcare system. I say no to Massachusetts style health care, and yes to single payer health care as proposed in HR 676. Single payer gives more freedom of choice and access to quality care for patients and it is the most economical way to make sure we all can access care when we need it. Now is the time to give the gift of healthcare for all to every American. Happy holidays and thank you. If you have any questions about single payer or about me, please call me at __________________.

Non-co-sponsors call: Hi, my name is ----------------. I am calling to urge Rep.  ___________________ to support of HR676, John Conyers' National Health Insurance Act. Rep. Conyers plans to reintroduce HR676 shortly after the Congress is back in session in January, and I want to reaffirm my support for HR676, single payer healthcare legislation and ask Rep. ____________________ to do the same by signing on as a co-sponsor and working for true reform of this terrible healthcare system. I say no to Massachusetts style health care, and yes to single payer health care as proposed in HR 676. Single payer gives more freedom of choice and access to quality care for patients and it is the most economical way to make sure we all can access care when we need it. Now is the time to give the gift of healthcare for all to every American. Happy holidays and thank you. If you have any questions about single payer or about me, please call me at __________________.

Message to Senator Kennedy:

Hi, my name is ----------------. I am calling to urge Senator Kennedy to make his proposed legislation for health care reform single-payer. The current reform in Massachusetts is leaving thousands uninsured and is far too expensive to be sustained because it leaves profit in the middle of our health care system. In the most recent election, local ballot initiatives supporting single payer and opposing individual mandates passed by landslide margins in all ten legislative districts where they appeared. With almost all precincts tallied, roughly 73 percent of 181,000 voters in the ten districts voted YES in support of a single-payer system. Say no to Massachusetts style health care, and yes to single payer health care as proposed in HR 676. Happy holidays and thank you. If you have any questions about single payer or about me, please call me at __________________.