Friends,

This week congress finally passed the long-awaited healthcare reform legislation. We believe this is a very good opportunity to thank legislators who supported the bill for the hard work they have put in over the past months, and to show collective relief that much needed reform has finally been passed. However, this is also an opportunity for us to express our discontent with the legislation and to highlight its shortcomings. Please take a moment to click on the link below to read and sign the following letter.

http://www.studenthealthcareaction.org/lettertocongress/

Valentine’s 2010: End Your Un-Healthy Relationship

This Valentine’s Day the Student Healthcare Action Network thinks it’s time to break up… over Healthcare reform. That means saying “So long” to whoever (or whatever) we know darn well should never have gotten past the first date.

Get involved and check out more break-ups!

Videos posted

A participant in the rally posted these videos on YouTube from our Oct. 30 action.

Photos posted

Here are some photos from our action on Friday.

Successful Sit-In Staged!

We held a successful sit-in yesterday, October 30, in front of Blue Cross headquarters in Philadelphia, to present demands to Blue Cross CEO Joe Frick. 13 of us were arrested.

Visit our page about the sit-in for all the updates and media links as we find them. Send us your own pictures of the rally and sit-in at StudentHealthcareActionNetwork@gmail.com. Also see our Press Release.

Rob Kall has posted photos of the sit-in on Flickr.

Our letter of demands to CEO Joe Frick

ACTION on October 30

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be holding an action tomorrow, Friday, October 30, in front of the headquarters of Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia at 19th and Market. The rally and action will take place at noon. We’ll post updates, video, photos and media updates as they come in! Click here for more info.

See you there!

Would Universal Single Payer Healthcare put a huge strain on the U.S. Economy?

The total cost of overhauling the healthcare system used now and replacing it with a new system would cost an estimated $1.5 trillion. This seems like an incredibly large sum, which would mostly come out of a progressive income tax and an excise tax on corporations. However, it should be noted that the current U.S. healthcare system costs the government $2.4 trillion a year. Plus, there are ways in which Single Payer Healthcare would actually save the money of U.S. citizens.

1. Single Payer would eliminate wasteful spending by eliminating private insurance bills, administrative waste, and for-profit service. This savings is estimated at 10%, or $150 billion in 2002. This money would be used to provide healthcare to the currently uninsured.

2. The federal government would have bargaining power to procure medications in bulk. This would also save money, making medication less expensive.

3. Twenty-eight industrialized countries provide Single Payer healthcare, and therefore, better coverage to their citizens. However, the U.S. spends at least 40% more per capita on healthcare than any of these other countries. This suggests that Single Payer is actually less expensive than the current U.S. system.

While it is expected that the overhaul of the current healthcare system would be expensive, Single Payer healthcare would actually save U.S. citizens money in the long run.

http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what_is_single_payer.php

EfficiCare

Yesterday we unveiled our new and better private insurance company, Efficicare: “No Muss, No Fuss, No Healthcare”, in an afternoon action in front of Blue Cross Headquarters. See the Efficare page for more info, photos, and video.

Action tomorrow

We’ll be holding our second action of the summer in Center City Philadelphia tomorrow, Wednesday, August 19. Contact us by phone or email if you’re interested in participating. Photos, video, details and news on how it went will go up as soon as we do the action!