Expose the Right and we Win Health Care

Health Care for America Now held a retreat last week. Via Greg Sargent at TPM:

I'm told that dozens of the heaviest hitters from the health care reform world met for a private retreat in Virginia last week and spent two days girding for a major battle with the insurance industry, hashing out specific messaging, discussing organizing goals and planning a major fundraising drive to blanket the airwaves with ads next year.

At the retreat -- which was organized by Health Care For America Now, the major umbrella group of unions, reform advocates and providers -- the group agreed that they were aiming to start next year with at least $25 million for ads and field organizing, with the hope of raising many millions more.

Lots of elements of health care reform and how to win were discussed, but one of the most important was taking on the opposition. Specifically, if we want to win health care reform, we have to not only prove the insurance industry and the right-wing of this country wrong, we have to make them untrustworthy.

Case in point, as I wrote yesterday, conservatives and the industry will use all their resources to "kill" health care reform to preserve their own interests:

As this debate moves forward, keep a close eye on who's making arguments. If it's the insurance or pharmaceutical industry, you can bet their argument helps or protects their bottom line. If it's conservatives, you can bet it helps their political viability. Don't ever assume these groups have the public's interest at heart.

Having arguments is one thing, and yes, reasonable people can disagree on issues like health care. But it's important that the general public understand who's pushing arguments like "We can't afford health care in an economic crisis" or "big government health care is not the solution we need" and why they are pushing those arguments. As conservatives are making clear, they aren't against health care for ideological reasons so much as for partisan reasons:

Amidst the usual scary phrases like "government takeover," "Marxist," and "Obamacare" (what does that even mean?), Pethokoukis comes clean about his real problem with health care reform - people will like it and they'll like Obama for making it happen. Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute agrees. His message to Republican lawmakers: Blocking Obama's Health Plan Is Key to the GOP's Survival.

The country needs to understand why the right-wing is against health care reform. You can help make that happen.

SEIU has put together an online letter writing tool for folks to write letters to the editor to their local paper. All you have to do is input your zip code and write a letter and it will be automatically submitted to all the local papers in your area.

So, please take a moment and write a letter to your local papers. Expose the reasons why conservatives oppose health care reform. Make their arguments untrustworthy. That way, we'll be able to win quality, affordable health care for all in 2009.

(also posted at the NOW! blog)

Comments

[magen]

As if regular working Americans DON'T want healthcare reform.

Anybody out there have any GOOD stories to tell when having to deal with a health insurance company?

Didn't think so.

Any horror stories about denial of coverage or services, or being put on endless hold then hung up on, ridiculous charges, etc??

Zillions.

Expose the right-wing on ANY issue and they lose.

[mommadona]

"Well, there they go again...."

And here we go again.

Onward!

(you didn't think they'd go quietly into that dark night, did you?)

[LeftRight]

Nah, but I was audacious enough to hope! ;)

[Konnie]

what i don't understand is why "business" is not with "us" on this issue. Its a complete no brainer.
get every industry out of the health care business except the health care business. get that benefit
off their bottom lines. businesses that give health care benefits to their employees pay the company portion and then collect thru the payroll system the employee portion. also included in those deductions for income tax, etc is a medicaid portion of social security. its not like their computers
aren't already set up for this procedure.

so just move everyone from private medical insurance to medicaid. its sooooo simple.
the pay remains the same, the insurance deduction is added to the medicare deduction.
and the company saves not only the portion it pays to the health insurance company, its h.r.
department doesn't have to spend time negotating, following up on claims, herding the employees.

and then if the employees want to get a much cheaper supplemental policy to cover the loose ends.
then they can. just like they do now.

but ooooh not all doctors play nice with medicare - well that would be part of the package.
and with more well people in the plan the costs would be spread across a broader base,
and the medical folks could get a better reimbursement.

[Jason Rosenbaum - Huffpost Blogger]

Business is actually pretty split on this issue, and it remains to be seen whether they will be with us or against us. HCAN and others are working hard to get them on board, and we need them to win. The only industries really against us are the pharmaceutical and insurance industries, for obvious reasons.

[LeftRight]

Business is basically split, UNLESS the business is in the health insurance or pharma, and they are getting ready to spend HUGE amounts of money!