10 Actions You Can Take to Achieve Health Care Reform

If our history has taught us anything, it’s that when the people are motivated and demand that change happens, no force on earth can stop it.  That’s good news, because to solve something as complex and as fundamentally broken as health care in America, it really is going to take all of us doing our part – nothing less will do.  Here are ten ways to get started today.

1. Make the Time to Learn How Health Care Works

One of the downfalls of the Clinton attempt at health care reform in 1993 and 1994 was that people just didn’t know enough about his plan.  The plan did itself no favors – it was so dense, so full of technical detail, and so based on a premise of “trust the experts who met behind closed doors” that even health care policy wonks struggled to grasp the details.  But it was certainly clear that the public was just not prepared to have a national debate on the issue.

As a result, it became easy to paint health care reform in the most unflattering light, using hyperbole, fallacies, leaps of logic and, as Mark Twain put it, “what you know for sure that just ain't so.”  Soon the health care reform that voters demanded in 1992 became the health care reform they feared in 1994.
As favorable as the chances of health care reform look today, the seeds of misinformation are already out there.

Use this section of Change.org and the sites we link to and learn how health care really works in this country.  Why don’t we have universal access?  What would happen if we did?  Why are our costs so much more than any other country?  How does our quality compare?  And how can we improve all of the above?

There’s nothing that the proponents of the status quo fear more than an informed voter…

2. Join the Conversation on Change.org and Change.gov

… well, except maybe an informed voter who’s not afraid to speak his or her mind.  Once you understand the basics, get in the game.  If you need clarification on our blog, ask for it – no, demand it.  If you think we’ve gotten something wrong, let us know.  What good is learning about something as complicated as health care if you don’t share what you learned with others?

And then share it with President Obama.

Change.gov launched an online forum specifically on health care.  The public debate that was absent in 1994 is raging there today.  You live in a country where the office and the officials who are likely to shape the health care policy of tomorrow want to hear from you.  Give them an earful!

3. Contact Your Member of Congress

But don’t stop with the Executive branch of the Federal government.  Some of you live in states and districts where your members of Congress have been permanent riders on the Health Care Reform love-train.  Some of you are in areas where your elected officials have expressed skepticism about government intervention, or think we don’t have the money to press ahead with bold, lofty change right now.  And some of you are in regions whose politicians are squarely in the middle.

Well, all of those folks need to hear from you.

Use Project Vote Smart’s lookup tool to find the contact information for your members of Congress.  Let them know how passionately you feel that health care must be on the agenda in 2009 – now more than ever.

4. Host a Screening of “Sick Around the World”

It’s an unfortunate national stereotype that we sometimes forget that there are other countries.  The other major economic powers in the world each have some type of universal health coverage for their citizens.  Most of what we know about them comes from anecdotes, and so that knowledge is as likely to be bologna as the real deal.

Into this gulf of information comes PBS’ Frontline series “Sick Around the World,” with fascinating looks at the British, German, Japanese, Swiss and Taiwanese systems of universal health care.  The strengths and weaknesses of each are laid out in a comprehensible but understandable way.

The whole program is available online.  Invite friends over to watch it with you and discuss what the U.S. can learn from other countries.

5. Attend an HR 676 Teach-In

HR 676 is a bill in Congress that would establish a national health care system.  It would be single-payer, with all medical costs paid for by the Federal government, primarily with increased tax revenue.  It would replace the for-profit insurance industry for good, permanently ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, co-pays, premiums and deductibles, and giving every American access to health care as a fundamental right.

Regardless of how you feel about single-payer as a solution, learning about the history of employer-based insurance in this country, the dysfunctional state of the private insurance industry, and the efficiency of single-payer systems established in Medicare and in other countries will leave you with much to chew on.

Teach-ins are offered by Healthcare-Now, a group supporting HR 676.  Find one near you.

6. Support a Nonprofit That Supports Medical Research

We live in desperate economic times, which are always most punishing to those already in need.  Catastrophic illnesses like cancer and heart disease, and chronic conditions like diabetes and complications due to birth defects strike not just at the health and well-being of a family member, but at the economic security of a family, regardless of whether they have insurance or not.

Explore Change.org’s list of health-related nonprofits, many of which provide vital support to families in their hour of need, and financial support for research teams striving for a cure.

7. Sign Up for Health Care for America Now’s action alerts

Health Care for America Now! is a coalition of unions, progressive organizations like MoveOn.org, community organizers, faith-based groups and citizen volunteers mobilizing to support health care reform that strenuously regulates private insurance and guarantees quality, affordable health care for all.  Although for comprehensive reform, they’re not specifically for single-payer, and their statement of principles is similar to what President Obama has proposed (he has signed a pledge supporting the group’s principles).

Why their action alerts more than another group?  They’re arguably the quickest at sending out action alerts based on current events, and they almost always have an online action that you can quickly complete wherever you are.  Their site is stocked with incredibly useful tools, including an automated dialing system for you to call members of Congress or even insurance companies to let your voice be heard.

If you can only stay involved online, their tools are a great way to let your voice be heard.

8. Host a screening of “Sicko.”

Michael Moore’s 2007 film on our broken health care system is focused less on the outrage of 46 million uninsured Americans and more on how our system fails those with insurance, putting a human face to the health care crisis.  The movie has remarkably few stereotypical “Moore” moments or showy stunts – largely because the failures of our health care system need no adornment.

Rent Moore’s film, or buy it.  Invite friends over to watch it.  Discuss your reactions – and suggest they show it to their other friends as well.

9. Invite people to read Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis

Former Sen. Tom Daschle has been appointed both the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Executive Director for the White House Office of Health Care Reform.  In short, he’s the quarterback for President Obama’s game plan of signing a health care reform bill into law by the end of his first term as president.

Daschle’s book on health care reform is also surprisingly accessible, detailing why previous attempts at reform have eluded us, who’s benefiting from our current system, and how critically we need to seize the moment for real reform.  He also offers a number of solutions to tackle the problems of coverage, cost and quality.

Buy the book or borrow it from the library.  At only 240 pages, it’s the perfect size for a book club or discussion night.

10. Prevention Works.  If you can, get yourself checked out.

The old adage, “Physician, heal thyself” applies to proponents of health care reform as well.  We know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and we know that the sooner we catch ailments, the better job we can do at treating them – and often for less money.  But we also know that Americans are really, really bad at using the options available to them.  Only 55% of the time do we get the preventative care we need.

If you have coverage with an affordable co-pay or deductible and you’re not going in for an annual check-up, call for an appointment right now.  If you have coverage and you don’t have a primary care physician, ask for recommendations.  If you don’t have coverage and you have children, see if you qualify for your state’s SCHIP program.  If you’re barely getting by, see if you qualify for Medicaid in your state or some other subsidy.  Some government assistance programs have shockingly low sign-up rates – your health is worth taking the time or any embarrassment that would be engendered by asking.

It turns out your mom was right – good health starts with healthy living.  It’s not just common sense, it’s economic sense as well.