March 6 Rally for Universal Health Care Recap

Gathering Forces - Rally for Universal Healthcare - March 6

By Consuelo Echeverria

Health Care for All-Washington, Health Care Is a Human Right WA, Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action, Whole Washington, and Physicians for a National Health Program of Washington organized a rally for universal health care on the Capitol steps in Olympia. This is the first time that a wide array of organizations have come together in a call for universal health care in Washington state and it resulted in a historic turnout of over 120 people!

Speakers included Senators Kuderer, Hasegawa and representatives of labor organizations, women’s rights groups, civil rights organizations, immigrant and refugee organizations, faith communities, community health boards, healthcare professionals, and legal advocacy groups.

Amongst the celebrations, there was real disappointment that the Senate Joint Memorial calling for a federal universal healthcare plan or the passing of Ro Khanna’s State Based Universal Health Care Act did not pass despite the solid advocacy of Senator Hasegawa. We were also deeply disappointed that the Keep Our Care Act failed to pass. We thank Senators Hasegawa and Randall for all their work.

In this time of consolidation and privatization of our healthcare system, the regulation of private entities is essential. AG Ferguson's recent victory in the lawsuit charging Providence with the violation of the state’s charity care law shows that without oversight and regulation, these entities are driven solely by profit. The lawsuit, the largest resolution of its kind in the country, requires the Providence healthcare system to pay $157.8 million to its patients. Furthermore, a recent PNHP report found that without sufficient oversight, Medicare Advantage programs overcharge taxpayers $140 billion each year, enough to totally eliminate Medicare part B premiums for seniors and people with disabilities.

In this landscape, our diversity of voices calling for universal publicly funded healthcare is all the more urgent.

Check out speaker highlights below!

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John Godfrey, WashingtonCAN

WashingtonCAN's Lead Field Organizer John Godfrey calls the rally to order and describes the organizing groups. Outlines that “in our diversity lies our greatest strength” as we come together to transform the current broken healthcare delivery system. We demand universal healthcare now.

Emily Brice, NoHLA

Emily Brice, Deputy Director of Northwest Health Law Advocates (NoHLA), reviews the history of universal healthcare advocacy in Washington. Despite having clearly articulated the goal of universal healthcare in 2007, publicly funded, privately delivered universal healthcare is still NOT implemented.

Senator Bob Hasegawa

Senator Bob Hasegawa describes the history of the SM800 Joint Memorial for universal health care and calls upon us to build more power to put healthcare as a human right into law. Sen. Hasegawa is a Democratic member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 11th Legislative District since January 2013.

Senator Patty Kuderer

Senator Patty Kuderer tells her personal story about how she had to confront the morally bankrupt healthcare system we now have. She declares “Health Care is a human right!” and encourages us to continue to fight for universal healthcare.

Mohamed Shidane, Somali Health Board

Mohamed Shidane, Deputy Director, Somali Health Board, describes the high-cost of health insurance when available and provided via an employer. Outlines the importance of having affordable healthcare for families. Shidane served as a member of the Universal Health Care Work Group for two years before being appointed by the Governor to serve in the Universal Health Care Commission.

Marcia Stedman, HCFA-WA

Marcia Stedman, HCFA-WA Board Member and Communications Committee co-chair, describes how the Universal Health Care Commission (UHCC) needs a reboot in order to accomplish the mission of establishing the structure for universal healthcare in Washington. This would provide better access to care and save Washingtonians on healthcare costs. She cites several examples of how the work of the UHCC could be improved.

Hugh Foy, MD, PNHP

Dr. Hugh Foy, professor of Surgery, UW School of Medicine, and Director of the Surgical Specialties Clinic, Harborview Medical Center, and co-founder of the Washington Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). He urges us to call/write Federal legislators to stop "profit over patients" of Medicare Advantage. He calls for “Everybody In – Nobody Out” universal healthcare.

Laurie Weidner, APR, M.A., RPEC-WA

Laurie Weidner, APR, M.A., is the Executive Director of the Retired Public Employees Council of Washington (RPEC). Last year RPEC worked to protect traditional Medicare and to increase access to quality healthcare by mobilizing PEBB stakeholder to advocate that HCA engage stakeholders in policy decision-making.

Karen Richter, PSARA

Karen Richter, PSARA Co-President/Fund Raising Chair, says PSARA fights against the privatization of Medicare. We call on President Biden to work to give Traditional Medicare the same additional available in the Medicare Advantage program: hearing, vision, dental and to end the 20% co-pay for Traditional Medicare services. You can sign the PSARA petition to President Biden here.

Liz Murphy, patient voice, WashingtonCAN

Liz Murphy, a patient voice brought by WashingtonCAN, describes her life-long battle to maintain health insurance coverage for her childhood diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, need for medication, and need for double organ transplant as an adult. As a teacher she always opted for the highest level of coverage, she had to ration medication due to insufficient insurance coverage. She was denied care by the Mayo Clinic because of too much medical debt. She makes a strong voice for universal healthcare.

Claude Burfect, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, MLK Labor Executive Board, NAACP

Claude Burfect, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; MLK Labor Executive Board; and at-large board member of the Seattle/King County NAACP chapter, says about universal healthcare, “We are a resurrection and not an insurrection! Poverty is the 4th leading cause of death in the US.

Ashley Fueston, WA Federation of State Employees

Ashley Fueston, Vice President of the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE), was elected to this position at the 49th Biennial AFSCME Council 28/WFSE Convention. She has a background as an experienced Workforce Specialist with skills in Microsoft Office and a history of working in professional training and coaching.

Cheryl Wapes’a-Mayes, Chief Leschi Schools

Cheryl Wapes’a-Mayes, Teacher, Chief Leschi Schools; enrolled member of the Sioux Tribe in Northeastern Montana, calls for the urgency of implementing universal health care to counter the inequity of health care services, especially in marginalized communities such as the women’s reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ persons. Equity in health care is a fundamental right for all.

Sam Hatzenbeler, Economic Opportunity Institute

Sam Hatzenbeler, Senior Policy Associate, Economic Opportunity Institute, asserts that a major problem with our healthcare system is that profit-oriented companies are taking over the system. An example is that the Keep Our Care Act (SB 5241), has been introduced in the last 4 legislative sessions and has failed to pass because of the influence of the larger hospital groups and physician organizations.

She calls on the healthcare system to put patients before profits.

Andre Stackhouse, Executive Director, Whole Washington

Andre Stackhouse, Executive Director of Whole Washington, calls out the Universal Health Care Commission (UHCC) for failing to produce a policy recommendation in three years of hearings. He declares “by bill or by ballot” people of Washington will have universal health care for all Washingtonians.

Karen Strickland, AFT WA President

The AFT union has long worked to provide good healthcare insurance for its members. But that coverage is based on full-time employment and often members lose that coverage because their employment status changes beyond their control. Karen Strickland, AFT WA President, calls for universal healthcare coverage not based on employment.

Edna Cortez, RN; Chair, Labor Executive Council

Edna P. Cortez, RN; and Chair, Labor Executive Council, calls for universal health care that covers everyone from birth onward. Parents should not have to worry about care for infants and children. Recites progress with legislation but calls out legislators for failing to pass SJM 8006, which called for the federal government to establish universal healthcare to cover all residents of Washington state and the United States, and SB5241 Keep Our Care Act.

Carey Wallace, Chair, Whole Washington, RN, MSN, MBA

Carey relates the story of her uncle whose colon cancer was in remission with medication treatment, but when his insurance company stopped paying for the medication, his cancer returned. He could not afford to pay for the medication, and he died. She makes the case that we should not be forced to pay for healthcare insurance only to have the insurance company deny appropriate treatment.

Esther Lucero, Seattle Indian Health Board

Esther Lucero, President and CEO of the Seattle Indian Health Board, describes huge inequity present in the healthcare delivery system in Washington: Native people now receive about one third of the Federal healthcare benefits as the average person in the Washington population. She calls universal healthcare care for all now. She is of Diné (Navajo) and Latina descent.

Consuelo Echeverria, rally sponsor, HCFA-WA

Thanked the legislature for adding $28.4 million more funding to help reduce health care insurance costs for undocumented immigrants beginning July 2024 (details here). In addition, she acknowledged HCFA-WA for gaining funding to study the consolidation of two major health care programs operated by the State that would improve the efficiency and lower the cost of healthcare for these programs (details here).

Kathryn Lewandowsky, RN, Whole WA, OPS

Kathryn Lewandowsky RN (retired), Vice Chair, Whole Washington; Treasurer, One Payer States, describes the importance of State Based Universal Health Care (SBUHCA): that will enable states to establish their own universal health care programs. “Medicare for All" legislation has failed to pass Congress, so Whole Washington advocates passing federal legislation that would allow states to build their own universal healthcare system.

Joselito Lopez, Washington CAN

Washington Community Action Network (WashingtonCAN) member Joselito Lopez tells a powerful story about how the inequities of the healthcare system impacted him: during treatment for a double heart bypass, he was fired from his employment (absent) and lost his health insurance, then he could not purchase private healthcare insurance because of “pre-existing conditions” until the ACA was enacted. He makes a powerful case for universal healthcare, everybody in – nobody out!

Barak Gale, Poor People’s Campaign

The Washington Chapter of the Poor People's Campaign is working to correct the glaring inequalities in the healthcare system, such as the asthma death rate among Black children is EIGHT times that of white children, and medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States. We can do better: pass Medicare for All!