Colorado Day of Action Mixes It up and Meets Success

On March 9, more than 200 Colorado health care activists gathered at the state capitol for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative’s 3rd Annual Day of Action. The organizer of the event, Britt Howe, said the day’s success rested on the diverse variety of actions taken by participants.

Advocates, health care consumers, and legislators spoke at a large rally in front of the capitol bringing the health care discussion to a broader audience. Throughout the event, the message was clear as many speakers echoed the President: economic recovery begins with health care reform!

The daylong event included small group visits with state representatives and lunch with several legislators. Participants asked their legislators to support two specific pieces of legislation including the Colorado Healthcare Affordability Act, a bill that could cover up to 100,000 additional Coloradans. The day concluded with a preview and discussion of the much anticipated PBS film, Sick Around America, moderated by Rocky Mountain PBS’s Cynthia Hessin. The film documents regular Americans’ struggles with health insurance.

Update: Thanks in part to the participants in the Health Care Day of Action, the Health Care Affordability Act, passed the Colorado Senate and now moves to the Governor's desk for signing. The legislation passed on Monday, April 6th and will cover an additional 100,000 uninsured Coloradans. Find out more about the legislation here.

New Mexico Passes Transparency Bill Thanks to an Unlikely Coalition

Roxane Spruce Bly, Executive Director of Health Action New Mexico, is thrilled that the Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act just passed the New Mexico legislature. A wide ranging coalition of stakeholders held great weight as the bill moved forward, and it moved quickly through both chambers to the governor’s desk, where he is likely to sign it into law. This legislation emerged out of the Health Coverage Working Group, an unlikely coalition of insurers, underwriters, providers, and business, labor, and health advocates that first met in December.

Roxane admits that talks were at times tense, but the group found points of agreement and forged ahead forcefully. The group focused on building relationships and finding common ground for reform. After one meeting in December and another in January, the group decided that the first step to getting more New Mexicans covered would be to make sure the state could take full advantage of recently allocated federal stimulus funds. To receive the funds, the Department of Human Services needed to adjust how it operates in order to be able to more quickly and efficiently identify which residents are entitled to increased coverage.

The resulting bill increases transparency in reporting so that more New Mexicans will be able to take advantage of new stimulus money, a task that would have been almost impossible to accomplish beforehand. Roxane asserts that this bill is an important first step toward increasing coverage.

Texas Group uses Cover the Uninsured Week to Launch Innovative New Campaign

For Kymberlie Quong Charles and the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), the 7th annual Cover the Uninsured Week (March 22-28) could not have come at a better time. Kymberlie is coordinator of the Center’s new grassroots network called The Texas Voice for Health Reform. She claims that Cover the Uninsured Week provided an excellent opportunity to launch the new network, Web site, and test the use of new technologies. The Center’s new project aims to mobilize Texans to fight for national health care reform. 

The Austin based group sends daily e-mails to its list with the motto “An action a day brings health reform our way.” The daily “asks” ranged from hosting a health care happy hour to calling a member of Congress. For Kymberlie and CPPP, Cover the Uninsured Week provided an opportunity to get a lot done in a short time, and the organizers strategically built the level of commitment asked for each action throughout the week—starting with simply learning about the issue and eventually leading to congressional contact. As the Center moves quickly to take advantage of new media and Internet mobilization, this weeklong experiment introduced the new technologies in an exciting and interesting new way. The Texas Voice for Health Reform will continue to serve as the Internet hub for the Center to mobilize Texans through email and social networking Web sites.

For a full listing of Cover the Uninsured Week events, check out the Web site.

Coming Soon to Your State–the VoteHealthcare.org Purple Bus!

Kathie McClure and The VoteHealthcare.org Purple Bus are on the road again!  From April through June, the Purple Bus is visiting 17 states for the second leg of its National Tour. While on the road, the Purple Bus Lady, Kathie McClure, collaborates with other nonprofit organizations to educate citizens and motivate them to speak up for meaningful reform. Last year, the Purple Bus clocked 6,500 miles in 13 states during the lead up to the presidential election.

VoteHealthcare.org is now booking Purple Bus Stops for the Spring Tour. Kathie says, “Our goal is to add a national dimension to [advocate’s] programs, help with grassroots organizing, and attract attention to your organization’s efforts.” An Atlanta attorney and mom, Kathie learned about the holes in our health care system the hard way. Her son, Chris, has Type I Diabetes, and her daughter, Caitlin, has epilepsy. Kathie decided to stop complaining and take action. She started VoteHealthcare.org, fixed up a little school bus, and began a National Tour to deliver a message of empowerment: “Together—We Can Fix Healthcare!”

Kathie plans to make one of her first stops in Montgomery, Alabama, where she is teaming up with Alabama Appleseed and Alabama Arise to release Families USA newest report, "Americans at Risk: One in Three Uninsured for Alabama," at the state capitol. Public officials and local advocates will talk about the uninsured in Alabama and call for state and national reform.

2009 States: AL, AZ, CA, CO, ID, KS, LA, MO, MS, MT, NM, NV, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY
More Tour Info:  www.votehealthcare.org
Contact:  Email Kathie McClure purplebuslady@votehealthcare.org