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Wednesday, February 22
Fallon Reschedules Health Care Tour for Thursday and Friday of This Week
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 22 Feb 2006 04:10 PM CST
 Fallon Reschedules Health Care Tour for Thursday and Friday of This Week
State Representative and gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon
(D-Des Moines) will visit 8 cities in central and eastern Iowa on
Thursday and Friday to introduce his plan for universal health care.
The tour was initially scheduled for last week but had to be postponed
due to poor weather conditions.
“Other
politicians seem content to apply a few bandaids to our ailing health
care system,” Fallon said. “What I’m offering is a transfusion, an
overhaul of a system that fails more and more Iowans every year. Other
states are moving forward with reform initiatives and with the right
leadership, Iowa can, too.”
DETAILS FOR THE EVENTS
Thursday, February 23:
9:00 AM: Des Moines, State Capitol, East Wing, south side of hall
11:45 AM: Waterloo, Community Health Clinic
3:15 PM: Dubuque, St. Mark Community Center
6:00 PM: Davenport, United Neighbor Center
Friday, February 24:
9:00 AM: Clinton, Democratic Party Headquarters
11:30 AM: Muscatine, Muscatine Community College, Larson Hall Conference Room
1:30 PM: Iowa City, Emergency Room, U of I Hospital
3:30 PM: Cedar Rapids, Community Health Free Clinic
For more information on these events, check out the Fallon for Governor Events page.
Thursday, February 16
Report on Health Care Lobby Day in Des Moines
by
Caroline Vernon
on Thu 16 Feb 2006 05:14 AM CST
 
Report on Health Care Lobby Day in Des Moines
by Caroline Vernon
contributions by Karen Metcalf
On February 7th, many health care advocates from across the state came together in association with Democracy For America, Democracy For Iowa and Iowa For Health Care for their first joint Health Care Lobby Day.
Among
those in attendance from the Quad Cities were none other than yours
truly, Caroline Vernon, Alta Price, Karen Metcalf, and Bev Strayhall.
Although we are each connected to the larger groups mentioned above, we
are also active members of Progressive Action for the Common Good Health Care Forum. Like Iowa For Health Care, our main goal is to promote quality, affordable health care for all.
Although
we did not address the larger goal of obtaining good coverage for
everyone, the purpose of our visit to the Statehouse was to engage our
legislators on three very important pieces of legislation:
Increase in the cigarette tax:
Research
shows that increasing the tax by $1/pack would stop 4700 young people
in Iowa from starting. This translates into better health and
substantial savings in health care costs from tobacco-related
illnesses.
We found broad bi-partisan support for this
proposal, particularly if the revenue generated by the tax is allocated
specifically to health care. While the Senate last year approved a
cigarette tax hike, the effort has been blocked in the House because
House Speaker Christopher Rants, (R) - Sioux City, says he won't allow
debate.
Rants
sponsored a political organization, Iowa Leadership Council, that
received more than $60,000 from tobacco companies. The "Rants For
Statehouse Committee" also received over $4,000
from big tobacco and yet Rants insists these generous contributions
have nothing to do with the fact that he refuses to allow this proposal
to come to the floor for debate! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the
"culture of corruption" has come to Iowa! Evidently, Rants really
expects folks to believe this nonsense!
During our early morning press conference, Sara Swisher of Iowa For Healthcare declared, "Speaker
Rants needs to answer to the people who provide health care and he
needs to answer to Iowans. He should kick the habit and kick it now
instead of taking big bucks from tobacco." Sara was joined by the group mascot, Mr. Buttman, who was weilding a fistful of "Tobacco Bucks for Speaker Christopher Rants".
ACTION:
Click here to download your own "Tobacco Buck For Rants," make
single-sided copies on lime green paper, cut them apart and distribute
them at every legislative forum, townhall meeting and community event
you attend!
Over a dozen Republican legislators have also
encouraged Rants to allow debate on this issue, to no avail. It was
stressed that Sioux City residents would hold the most weight with
Rants, so if you are a SC resident or if you have friends or family who
are, please encourage them to contact House Speaker Chris Rants, urging
him to "do the right thing" by allowing debate on this very important
issue:
E-mail: Christopher.Rants@legis.state.ia.us
Home Address: 2740 South Glass
Street, Sioux City, IA, 51106
Home Telephone: 712-274-8874According
to Iowa For Healthcare, polls show that at least 70% of Iowans support
a $1 increase of the tax. Governor Vilsack has proposed boosting the
tax by 80 cents per pack.
Fair Share For Health Care Legislation:
Maryland
recently passed a similar bill, by the same name, which passed over the
veto of Governor Ehrlich. This legislation has been introduced to the
Iowa legislature by Senator Joe Bolkcom and others in a bi-partisan
effort to hold large corporations accountable to their employees and
the communities in which they operate. It
forces the very largest employers (about 5 companies in Iowa) to
allocate a fixed percentage of their revenue for employee health care
costs, either by providing them with health care coverage directly, or
by paying directly to the State Medicaid budget, since many of these
employees make so little that they, or their children, qualify for
Medicaid.
According to an Iowa Department of Human Services
2004 report, the two largest employers in Iowa, HyVee and Walmart, each
have hundreds of employees who meet this low-income criteria. HyVee,
the largest employer, had 361 employees on Medicaid, while Walmart, the
2nd largest employer in the state, had over 800 employees on Medicaid.
As you know, Medicaid funding has been threatend by huge budget cuts on
the federal level which will affect the states ability to fund this
program so it is imperative that we mandate large profitable
corporations to pay their fair share for health care!
Whistle-Blower Protection For Health Care Workers:
Many
nurses and other health care workers were in attendance advocating for
this key piece of legislation to insure that all health care workers
are comfortable reporting unsafe practices without fear of being fired
or punished in some way by their employer. Various personal accounts of
such incidents were shared with legislators, citing examples of being
ostracized or fired for speaking out. There seemed to be broad support
for this legislation. Our hope is that this will pass this legislative
session. ACTION: Please contact your legislators and urge them to support this key protection for our invaluable health care workers.
Quality Affordable Health Care for All - by 2010:
PACG
Health Care forum Leader, Karen Metcalf, reflected on the progress made
that day, "It was a very productive day for those of us who went, not
so much because we were able to change legislators' minds, but because
we learned a lot about the political process and the exercise of
political power in the state. Although we did not specifically deal
with the macro goal of getting coverage for everyone, each of the three
pieces of legislation, in it's own way, does address a micro issue and,
if passed, would certainly be a step forward, rather than backward, as
so much legislation seems to be these days."
Many grassroots organizations across the state are actively advocating for quality, affordable healthcare for all. The prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) called for the U.S. to implement
universal health care by 2010. According to the January 14, 2004 report, 43,000,000 Americans are uninsured (a conservative estimate), and
lack of health insurance causes 18,000 unnecessary deaths each year in the U.S.
Eighty percent of the uninsured are members of working families; while a quarter
of U.S. workers are not offered health insurance at all, and few Americans can
afford to buy the expensive individual policies.
It
is important that each of us continue to do whatever we can to address
this issue of healthcare for all. Because we believe health care is a right, not a privilege, the PACG Health Care forum has
championed the "Lend A Hand For Health Care" initiative, collecting
18,000 handprints to represent those people who die every year. We have
already acquired handprints from Governor Tom Vilsack, Lt. Governor
Sally Pederson, US Congressman Leonard Boswell, various state
legislators, and our very own Chariman Howard Dean. Outreach to faith
groups and other community organizations is under way in an effort to
expedite and complete this project by year's end. If you would
like more information on how you can assist in this effort contact
Karen Metcalf at karencadfael@aol.com or go to our website, www.qcprogressiveaction.org.
Once we meet our goal of 18,000 handprints, our hope is to take them to the statehouses in Des Moines and Springfield and then to
Washington DC to display them as close as possible to the Capitol Building! Can you manage
to get a visual on that?!
I would like to thank everyone at Democracy For America, Democracy For Iowa, and Iowa For Health Care
for sponsoring a great lobby day in Des Moines! Special thanks for all
the hard work of Kirsten Running, Chris Bonfig, Sally Simpson and all
the other dedicated staff at Iowa For Healthcare for helping to make this a first class event. And to Sara Swisher, kudos for her grace in leadership!
Wednesday, February 8
Iowa Legislature: Invalidating Natural and Alternative Healing
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 08 Feb 2006 06:00 PM CST
 Iowa Legislature: Invalidating Natural and Alternative Healing
by Larry Hanus, Waterloo
Iowa Health Freedom
Stand up for your freedom to make your own health care choices.
Stand up for SF 2095.
Yesterday
9 members of the Iowa Health Freedom Coalition (IHFC) and the Native
American Cedar River Medicine Society (CRMS) were rebuffed by Iowa's
Senate Human Resources committee. Republican co-chair Jim
Seymour refused to meet with us or even to discuss the Iowa Health
Freedom Act, SF 2095. The Health Freedom Act, SF 2095, would
effectively de-criminalize natural healing methods in Iowa, making them
available to Iowans who must now either go out of state for alternative
healthcare or find "illegal" underground practitioners in the
state. Days before, in a dismissive tone, Seymour said that he
planned on killing the bill.
After
hitting this stone wall, 7 members of IHFC and CRMS had a meeting with
Senate Republican majority leader Stewart Iverson to express our
outrage, disbelief and disappointment at this abrogation of the
democratic process and to demand that Sen. Seymour absent himself
(withdraw) from his chair on the subcommittee hearing of the Health
Freedom Act, SF 2095, due to self-declared bias and conflict of
interest. Sen. Seymour is a retired hospital administrator and receives large campaign funding from sources within that industry.
Would freedom to choose natural and alternative healing impact that industry?
We
demand that both Sen. Seymour and Sen. David Johnson, who has also
pre-empted democratic dialectic, the art or practice of arriving at the
truth by the exchange of logical arguments, be replaced with Republican
legislators that are willing to have an unbiased, open-minded dialogue
about health freedom for Iowans.
Currently
there are 6 Health Freedom States: California, Rhode Island, Louisiana,
Oklahoma, Minnesota and Idaho. Legislation is moving in 10
additional states.
Who gains by Sen. Seymour killing SF 2095?
Larry Hanus
319-269-6343
www.IowaHealthFreedom.org
Action Alert:
Please, immediately, call Republican Senate Majority Leader Stewart Iverson at 515-281-3560 and send an e-mail, stewart.iverson@legis.state.ia.us with SF 2095 in the subject line.
Demand
that Sen. Seymour withdraw himself from his chair position on the
subcommittee on Iowa's Health Freedom bill SF 2095, due to past
employment history and to self-declared bias and financial
self-interest.
Contact your own senator here.
Sunday, February 5
Where Has Health Freedom Gone in Iowa? WHO Radio, Feb. 7
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 05 Feb 2006 07:00 PM CST
Where Has Health Freedom Gone in Iowa? WHO Radio, Feb. 7
Iowa Health Freedom on Jan Mickelson Show Feb. 7
WHO Talk Radio with Jan Mickelson. Channel AM 1040.
Feb. 7, Tues. 10:00 AM.
Where has Health Freedom gone in Iowa?
Why are Native American Medicine Healers subject to criminal prosecution in Iowa?
Why are
un-licensed herbalists, homeopaths, health food store owners, energy
practitioners and many others subject to criminal felony prosecution
for helping others in Iowa?
How can you participate in the efforts happening NOW to restore fundamental freedoms in Iowa by supporting SF 2095?
Join Jan
Mickelson, Larry Hanus of the Iowa Health Freedom Coaltion and Mark
Raven Hair Pena of the Cedar River Medicine Society as they discuss
these issues and more.
Immediate Action Alert: Support SF 2095
Currently in Iowa it is a crime
for an un-licensed natural health practitioner to assist another person
in healing any type of condition whether with nutritional supplements,
energy work or other methods.
The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that Vitamins and Nutrients are MEDICINES for the purpose of prosecution for practicing medicine without a license.
Please join in restoring your fundamental freedom right to be free to choose the health care you feel best for you.
SF 2095 will "de-criminalize" the un-licensed practice of natural, alternative, holistic healthcare subject to certain disclosures and prohibitions.
To
create the momentum needed to move this bill into law, please
contact the following Iowa Senate sub-committee members
immediately. Ask them to restore your right to choose and support
SF 2095.
Sen. James Seymour
Sen. David Johnson
Sen. Frank Wood
Sen. Jack Hatch
Also, if you have friends in these districts, ask them to call their Iowa Senator at home or at the Capitol.
Please contact your own Senator as well.
Thank you.
Larry Hanus, Iowa Health Freedom
319-269-6343
For information regarding the Iowa Health Freedom Day at the Capitol Feb. 13, click here.
Friday, February 3
Iowa Health Freedom Coalition Day at the Capitol Mon., Feb. 13
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 03 Feb 2006 10:10 PM CST
Iowa Health Freedom Coalition Day at the Capitol Monday, Feb. 13
The Iowa Health Freedom Coalition, www.IowaHealthFreedom.org,
enthusiastically invites you to attend our Day at the Capitol for
consumers and practitioners interested in the growth of the healing
arts in Iowa. Our purpose is to continue to create awarenss of
issues regarding freedom of access to all of the healing
arts. We also will be educating legislators in regard to our
health freedom legislation and provide them with an opportunity to
experience, first hand, some of the healing modalites involved.
Practitioners of un-licensed healing arts are invited to bring treatment tables, product displays, or materials.
We will provide treatment, examples, samples or information to
legislators on benefits and importance to Iowans of these healing
methods.
We have
room for apporximately 35 eight foot tables (or bodywork tables).
You must bring your own tables and chairs (see "rules" below).
Please RSVP to Trilby Sedlacek, Green Angel Herbs, 319-247-1243 or e-mail Trilby Sedlacek <gangel999@aol.com>.
Our day
at the Capitol is scheduled from 8:00 AM unitl 4:30 PM. We have
reserved the East and South wings on the first floor Rotunda. We
will be informing as many legislators as possible.
Please feel free to bring Healthy treats and snacks / beverages to share with legislators.
We are planning an opening ceremony prayer of Love and Gratitude.
See you there.
From all of us at IHFC, www.IowaHealthFreedom.org
In Love and Gratitude,
Larry Hanus Jon Royal
Launie
Sorem Lisa
Kamphuis
Dr. David Sands Linda Dietz
Syvilla Hewett Ivy Sievers
Cindy Reed Julie Halevan
Sandi Smith Willy Lansing
Linda Hedquist
Please Note:
It is
important for you to call your State Senator and State Representative
and invite and encourage them to attend and to support the Health
Freedom bill sponsored by Senators Hatch and Boettger (e-mail is not as
effective, but please e-mail them too so they have it in
writing.)
You can find your State Senator and State Representative by typing in your zip code on this web page, http://www.legis.state.ia.us/FindLeg/. The Capitol swithchboard number in Des Moines to call during the week is:
Senate 515-281-3371
House 515-281-3221
Or after you find your legislator you may want to go to this link, Home Addresses,
and find their biographical sketch and home phone number and call them
at home on the weekend. This is a great idea because at the
Capitol, you may only get to leave a message. Always be sure to
tell them you live in their district.
Please
contact any media, newspaper or TV / Radio, with a Capitol reporter
that you may have a relationship with and tell them about our event.
Excerpts from the Dept. of Administrative Services Rules follow:
Access to electrical will require extension cords and securing them.
1. Delivery can only be at the West entrance.
2. NO TABLES OR CHAIRS ARE PROVIDED. When bringing your equipment in, do not scratch floors.
3.
No tape or fasteners can be attached to any part of the building
structure. Matting tape may be used to adhere cables to the
floors.
4. Food may be brought in. Cooking is not allowed.
5. No balloons. (Set off motion detectors)
6. Clean up after yourself.
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