Here are the suggested monthly themes and some concepts for each theme. It is more likely that your Ad will be chosen as a 365 Ad of the Day if it is consistent with the theme of the month, but it is not a requirement. We’ll feature a really good Ad on any aspect of single payer universal health care.
Month #1 – March, 2010 – Introduction to the Campaign
The ads in the first month will be produced by California OneCare and feature celebrities, politicians, and health care activists.
Month #2 – April, 2010 – Health Care Victim Stories
- I was denied care
- I lost my job and my health care
- I had to delay care
- I can’t afford my medications
- I can’t afford the surgery I need
- I can’t get the therapy I need
- I had to have an amputation
- I suffered a medical accident
- My child died
- We went bankrupt
- I had to become destitute
- We can’t afford chemotherapy
- We had to pull the plug
- I was sent home too soon
- My baby was born too early
- I had to treat myself
- There is no place to put Mom
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- They lost my medical records
- My procedure was not authorized
- I’m going to die soon
- My child needs a heart valve
- I need a transplant
- I need physical therapy
- I had to choose: food or medications
- I need dental work
- They sent me home to die
- I had to wait 5 months to see a doctor
- I almost died in the emergency room
- Chronic conditions are excluded
- I can’t quit my job
- I can’t stay married
- We have to stay married
- I can’t start a new business
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Month #3 – May, 2010 – Why Single Payer?
- Health care is a human right
- SP puts patients first
- SP will save money for families, businesses, and government
- Other countries with SP spend less
- Other countries with SP have better health outcomes
- SP will maximize the risk pool
- SP stresses preventive care which saves money & lives
- Premiums will cost less with SP
- You may choose any doctor
or hospital you wish with SP
- SP is the only way to control costs
- SB 810 will control fraud
- Electronic record keeping will save money & improve care
- SP will put doctors where they are needed
- SP will put hospitals where they are needed
- Doctors will be fairly compensated
- No middle men to skim off $
- No deductibles or co-pays
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- No exclusions for preexisting conditions
- Your coverage can’t be canceled
- The coverage is comprehensive
- SP covers dental care
- SP covers prescriptions
- SP covers mental health care
- SP covers drug abuse treatment
- SP covers hospice care
- Incentives will promote quality care
- SP will promote free market competition among providers
- Most doctors will do better financially under SP
- A SP system will be accountable to patients not shareholders
- Treatment formularies will improve the quality of care
- SP is accountable to taxpayers
- There is an appeal system with SP
- SP will control Workman’s Comp costs
- SP is good for business
- Taiwan successfully switched to SP fifteen years ago
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Month #4 – June, 2010 – How Does Single Payer Work?
- SB 810 creates the California Health Insurance Agency (CHIA)
- CHIA collects all of the premiums as progressive taxes
- Premiums will be lower than you are paying now
- Providers bill CHIA & get paid
- CHIA issues a OneCare card
- Your card entitles you to:
- Services by Hospitals and Health Facilities
- Services by Physicians
- Services by Licensed Healthcare Professionals
- Diagnostic imaging
- Laboratory services
- Prescription drugs
- Dentistry
- Vision care
- Mental health care
- Preventive care
- Rehabilitative care
- Prosthetics
- Eyeglasses
- Hearing aids
- Immunizations
- Blood products
- Podiatry
- Dialysis
- Home health care
- Emergency care
- Chiropractics
- Acupuncture
- Adult day care
- Health education
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- Up to 100 days in a skilled nursing facility after hospitalization
- Emergency or necessary transportation
- Language interpretation
- Hospice care
- No deductibles or co-pays
- No exclusions for preexisting conditions
- You may choose any doctor you wish
- You and your doctor together manage your care
- No pre-authorizations are required
- After referral, you choose any specialist
- Medicare is not necessary
- Medicare funds go to CHIA
- Electronic medical records follow you
- Keep your coverage regardless of job
- Everyone is covered for life
- You’re covered when you travel
- Inspector General prevents fraud
- Drs. incentivized to practice in underserved areas
- Use any hospital, lab, clinic, or other provider
- Dr.’s fees are negotiated to be fair
- Your coverage cannot be canceled
- A physician will be in charge of quality
- CHIA will be accountable to taxpayers
- Incentives for preventive care
- Incentives to improve quality of care
- All family members are covered always for everything
- A policy board protects stakeholders
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Month #5 – July, 2010 – What’s Wrong with Private Insurance?
- Fiduciary responsibility to shareholders not patients
- Incentives are to limit care
- Few incentive to control healthcare costs
- They take 30% off the top
- They profit from illness & suffering
- They provide nothing in the way of care
- They do not operate in a ‘free’ market
- Health care is not a commodity
- They only want to insure healthy people
- There are few incentives for prevention
- “Cherry-picking” will lead to a “death spiral”
- Adverse selections means taxpayers pay for the sickest
- Preexisting conditions are excluded
- They require co-pays & deductibles
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- Your choice of doctors is limited
- Treatments must be pre-authorized
- Poorly trained clerks decide on care
- They practice rescission
- They delay, confuse and deny
- Paperwork is an expensive nightmare
- Doctors must fight to get paid
- They add 25% to provider overhead
- Premiums rising faster than inflation
- They require extensive regulation
- Executives get rich while people suffer
- They don’t care about patients
- They make money by denying care
- They are bankrupting hospitals
- They are bankrupting families
- They create incentives for overtreatment
- They cause medical mistakes
- No cooperation for electronic records
- Health savings accounts are good for you
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Month #6 – August, 2010 – What You Can Do
- Give a OneCare Card to everyone you see
- Write a letter of endorsement
- Show the video to everybody you know
- Write a letter to the Governor to sign the bill
- Get your organization to endorse the bill
- Hand out flyers
- Call your legislator
- Write letters to the editor
- Attend a demonstration
- Organize a march
- Get your city council to endorse the bill
- Get your union to endorse the bill
- Donate money – lots of it
- Healthy Majority Campaign activities (in each key district)
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- Raise money for ads
- Attend a rally
- Make an ad for the 365 Campaign
- Recruit one new supporter every day
- Hold a house party
- Have a street party
- Picket an insurance company
- Make a sign or poster
- Make a freeway sign
- Get your county government to endorse the bill
- Tell your legislator how you will vote
- Join Health Care for All–California
- Form or join a OneCare Team
- Become a speaker
- Tell your doctor to support SP
- Tell your dentist to support SP
- Stage a street theater event
- Visit somebody in the hospital and recruit them
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Month #7 – September, 2010 – What You Can Tell The Governor So He’ll Sign SB 810
- Be a hero
- Don’t be a sellout
- Do the right thing
- Think about people for a change
- Listen to Maria
- You’ll get sick, too, one day
- Remember Austria?
- Strong men care about people
- Be your own man
- Private insurance is thievery
- Health care is a third of the state budget
- Don’t you want to save money?
- You’ll go down in history
- You’ll get elected for anything you want
- It’s what the people want
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- It’s what labor wants
- It’s what doctors and nurses want
- There’s no future without it
- Incremental changes will surely fail
- How can you be so cruel to children?
- What about people in rural areas?
- You’ll still be able to get plastic surgery
- You’re going to cause Republicans to lose
- It will create jobs
- It will stimulate the economy
- It’s not socialized medicine
- It will be a boon to commerce
- It will improve public health
- What would your mother do?
- People are dying
- We’ll be back!
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Month #8 – October, 2010 – Why Single Payer is Good for Business and Government
- Reduced absenteeism
- Increased productivity
- Healthier workforce
- Predictable healthcare expenses
- More competitive overseas
- Decreased HR expenses
- Improved employee morale
- Level playing field for recruitment
- Fewer disgruntled employees
- No surprise increases in healthcare costs
- More entrepreneurs & innovation
- Easier labor negotiations
- Lower workman’s comp costs
- Substance abuse treatment available
- Healthcare accountability
- Less incentive to invade privacy
- More openness and honesty
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- Protects most important resource – people
- Relieves local governments of healthcare burden
- Predictable benefits costs
- Saves money over private insurance
- Saves money for the state
- Improves commerce overall
- Relieves public malaise and distrust
- More money for other things like infrastructure & environment
- Accountability in government
- The Inspector General will reduce fraud
- There is a grievance & appeal process
- Public health would improve
- Regulation and oversight simplified
- Market forces at work for providers
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Month #9 – November, 2010 – Myths About Single Payer
- SP is socialized medicine
- Canadian healthcare is worse
- There’s rationing in Canada
- Canadian Doctors are leaving Canada
- Canadians come to the U.S. for treatment
- U.S. has the best healthcare in the world
- Doctors don’t want single payer
- SP would mean long waits
- SP would mean lower quality care
- SP would cost more
- The system would be overrun
- Illegal immigrants would flock to CA
- People from other states would move to CA
- Doctors would leave CA
- There would be healthcare rationing
- Health insurance workers would be unemployed
- People would be excluded
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- We would lose our Medicare
- I would have to pay for indolent people
- All that coverage would cost too much
- People would rip off the system
- The government can’t do anything right
- I wouldn’t be able to stay with my Dr.
- I wouldn’t be able to stay with Kaiser
- There won’t be enough Doctors
- There won’t be enough nurses
- Doctors will leave the profession
- It will be like getting care at the DMV
- European countries are going broke because of health care costs
- It’s not the “American Way”
- Unions would not support it
- Business is against it
- Nobody wants this kind of system
- It’s not politically feasible
- Pharmcos would stop doing research
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Month #10 – December, 2010 – Why Single Payer is Good for Health Care Providers
- Dr’s get paid for everything on time
- Pre-authorizations are not required
- A return to practicing medicine instead of paper pushing
- Electronic records always available
- Emphasis on quality care
- Emphasis on preventive care
- More resources for treatment
- Incentives for more & better nursing care
- Resources to train more doctors & nurses
- Dr. incentives to go to underserved areas
- Hospitals won’t go broke
- Relieves pressure on emergency rooms
- Simplify pharmacy administration
- Reduce medical mistakes
- Capital funds to build hospitals
- Fair and equitable compensation
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- Free to choose capitation if desired
- Reduced overhead means increased profits
- Free market system among providers
- Treatment formularies based on facts
- Fair and reasonable compensation
- Regular, periodic review of compensation
- Emphasis on patient care first
- Resources allocated fairly
- All treatment options available
- Funds allocated for research
- No second guessing by insurers
- Adequate facilities available to all
- Post-op treatment available
- Chronic care is covered
- No need to negotiate with different plans
- Adequate nursing staff
- Accountability in the system
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Month #11 – January, 2011 – Why Single Payer is Inevitable: We Will Win!
- Legislators need votes more than they need money
- We are only 3 votes short in each house of the legislature
- City governments are behind us
- Labor unions are behind us
- 2/3 of the voters are already behind us
- A majority of doctors want it
- A vast majority of nurses want it
- The LWV wants it
- We have the power–people power
- Insurance companies don’t care about you
- Insurance companies commit fraud
- Pharmaceuticals radically overcharge
- Insurers cause too many medical mistakes
- You can’t outsource health care
- There would be more jobs
- It would stimulate the economy
- Insurers are making money on our suffering
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- Executives are getting rich from your pain
- Insurers deny care when you really need it
- Insurance company employees get bonuses for rescissions
- There is no need for insurance company middlemen
- There’s enough money without insurance companies
- Retired Americans want SP
- Medical students want SP
- Hospitals are closing
- Emergency rooms are closing
- Patients are being diverted from ERs
- People can’t afford meds for kids
- Legislators work for us, not them
- We will override a veto of the SP bill
- SP is what people want
- Only SP has a constituency among the people—insurers don’t
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Month #12 – February, 2011 – What It Will Be Like When We Have California OneCare
- We all get a OneCare card
- My OneCare card works anywhere
- I didn’t have to get a pre-authorization
- I got my medications with my card
- I chose my own doctor
- We didn’t have to wait at the ER
- My child got all her shots
- I can start my new business
- I got treatment for substance abuse
- We got hospice care for Dad
- I was able to recuperate after surgery
- I got help losing weight
- I was able to get a root canal
- I had my regular check-up and I’m fine!
- They admitted me right away
- The surgery I got saved my life
- They have a new way to treat cancer
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- The nurses were wonderful!
- My lab results were available immediately
- My doctor arranged an MRI right away
- I’ve got my son’s asthma under control
- I lost my job–but not my coverage
- I can tell them where they can put this job
- I can marry the man I love!
- They had a translator at the Dr.’s office
- My medical record was available in another hospital immediately
- They paid my doctor right away
- I didn’t handle one single piece of paper
- The acupuncture relieved my pain
- I don’t have to worry about Mom anymore
- They cured me and it was free!
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