Health Care For America Now

NC Coalition Updates:

Welcome HCAN partners and supporters.  Below is information about our upcoming congressional visits, events, tasks, and goals.  Please peruse the information below to find ways you can help win comprehensive health care reform by working with our wonderful partners here in North Carolina.

  June 25th Lobby Day in Washington, DC !

Thank you for wanting to take your voice to Washington, DC.  Sadly all of our buses are full and we will not be able to accomodate any more folks on the trip to Washington. Please feel free to sign up below to recieve our mews alerts and to learn how you can help win health care for all! 

We will be taking around 150 advocates from North Carolina to a Health Care Town Hall in Washington, DC with members of North Carolina's congressional delegation.  Please use the sign up form below to RSVP for a spot on one of the buses that will be leaving North Carolina in the early morning hours on June 25, 2009.

The time of departure for the visits is still being worked out, but do keep in mind that this will be all day affair.  Buses will leave from the Triangle and Eastern North Carolina in the early morning hours of Thursday, June 25th.  We will arrive in Washington, DC, in time to participate events that begin at 12:00 pm. Lunch is one the house, but people should pack food or be prepared to have to buy other meals.  Please contact us if special arrangements need to be made to accomodate disabilities or nutrional restrictions.  Be well.

Please encourage other members or staff of your organization to advantage of this trip to Washington, DC, when they and thousands of advocates come together to fight for comprehensive health care reform!

Congressional Visits:

During a discussion at our coalition meeting, an outline was laid on appropriate ways to persuade key figures in our congressional delegation to support a public health insurance plan. 

Sadly, setting up congressional visits to Senator Kay Hagan is not proving to be the easiest task.  We are currently working to create the possibility to send delegations of groups to the Senator's office to discuss the importance of having a public health insurance option.  We may be calling upon many of you in the coming hours and days to help schedule these visits. 
 

 WE NEED PEOPLE'S STORIES!

If any members of your organization, staff, or friends of yours have stories that exemplify the need for reform including a public health insurance option, please have them call Dustin Bayard at 919.247.3726 or Lynice Williams at 919.618.5951.

We will be creating Vignettes for advocates to follow that will document people's stories as they move closer and closer to taking those stories to their legislators in Washington, DC.

Health Equities Trainings

If you or your organization have an interest in participating in a training that is geared to educate advocates about the disparities in the health care system, please contact Dustin Bayard at 919.247.3726 or Lynice Williams at 919.618.5951.

There has been wonderful materials produced by our national staff that display the shocking disparities that exist for communities of color.  HCAN is dedicated to improving the quality, accessibility, and affordability of health care for everyone.

If you do not know how communities of color are disproportionately deprived quality care, please contact an organizer to set up a training to learn more about these disturbing truths and what you can do to help make our health care system more just!

Notes from the NC HCAN Coalition Meeting

May 19, 2009

Lynice Williams welcomed everyone and thanked them for their participation.  A round of introductions was made, and the following people were in attendance:

Pat McCoy (NC ACORN)

James Andrews (AFL-CIO NC)

Robbin (NC Fair Share)

Evonne (CCC)

Dwayne T. Patterson (CCC/SE)

Jonathon Bray (AFSCME)

Hope Marasco (NC Health Access Coalition)

Belinda Williams (SEANC)

Sean Kosofsky (NARAL Pro-Choice NC)

Deven D. Anderson (Common Cause NC)
Kay Zwan (NC Fair Share)

Shafeah M'Balia (BWfJ)

George C. Debnam (Old North State Medical Society)

Nancee Merritt

Linda Suggs (BWfJ)

Jim Geout (Human Justice Coalition)

Michael Gravinese (AFL-CIO NC)

Venetta McNeil-Barnes (Human Justice Coalition)

Stephanie Shaw (Planned Parenthood NC)

Lindsay Siler (Planned Parenthood NC)

Dustin Bayard (Raleigh ACORN)
Michael De Los Santos (NC ACORN)

Lynice Williams (NC Fair Share)

Dr. Gustavo Montana (Health Care for All NC)

Yolanda M. Davis  (Human Justice Coalition)

Margarida Jorge (HCAN)

Margarida Jorge facilitated a group discussion which lasted about an hour.  This provided the group with the opportunity to hear about the developments of the campaign on a national level and ask specific questions from the campaign's National Field Director.

A group discussion was then facilitated by Pat McCoy to identify the key groups or demographics that would be the most effective when lobbying Sen. Kay Hagan to support a public health care plan.  Likely groups were named and some commitments were made by organizations to participate in visits to one of Sen. Hagan's offices.  The following table lists the demographics that would be effective in moving the senator.  Aside from highlighting demographics, the table also includes groups or individuals that volunteered to do a congressional visit (listed in bold) and recommendations for groups or individuals that would be effective during these visits (listed in red).

Shortly after the conversation about congressional visits, the meeting was adjourned.