The Gray Panters
I used to belong to AARP, but it did not take me long to figure out that it is a total waste of time. I want to be a part of a group of people who are 60+ and who agree with James Ridgeway that “Getting old does not mean getting dumb, getting conservative, getting complacent, or getting used to spending your days driving a golf cart to early bird dinner specials.”
My latest hope is the Gray Panthers. I like the name. Like the Black Panthers, but gray since we are all in the last chapter.
Gray Panthers: Guaranteed Health Care
WHEREAS, health care is a basic human need and a right that everyone is entitled to receive, regardless of ability to pay; and
WHEREAS, it is a disgrace that the United States is the only industrialized country in the world which doesn’t provide comprehensive health care to all residents and visitors with funding equity gaps in mental health services, patient counseling services, alcohol and chemical dependency treatment services among other critical services needed; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product on health care than any country, a World Health Organization study (in 2000) ranked our health system a shameful 37 out of 191 countries and revealed it ranked 20th in longevity and 18th in infant mortality; and
WHEREAS, 46 million Americans have no health care insurance at all and 42 million or more are significantly underinsured; and
WHEREAS, the American health care system is in crisis, and with the most advanced health care technology in the world, only a few can afford it; and
WHEREAS, the current U.S. health care system is excessively costly because it does not make preventative care a priority, treats symptoms instead of the whole person, uses disjointed and antiquated information systems and fails to eliminate excess profits and administrative waste; and
WHEREAS, the private insurance industry fails to provide affordable, adequate coverage, while profiteering to its own advantage and state initiatives for “universal healthcare” through private insurance companies have proven unsuccessful.
BE IT RESOLVED, that Gray Panthers supports a single payer, nonprofit, publicly funded and universal health care system that covers all health care needs, including preventative care, dental care, mental health, alcohol/chemical dependency services, patient counseling, prescription drugs, and long-term care, as examples; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Gray Panthers' Networks in each state pursue the development of a single-payer system in each state, as well as working for passage of national single payer legislation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Gray Panthers calls on all civic organizations, communities of faith, health care providers and institutions in America to collaborate for a universal health care system that guarantees comprehensive, quality, affordable health care for every person in the United States; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Gray Panthers supports a Patients' Bill of Rights at the state and federal levels.
LINK: http://www.graypanthers.org/
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