May meeting notes from the Walker County Democratic Committee

An enthusiastic crowd was present when the Walker County Democratic Committee met Thursday, May 25, at the Rossville Public Library.

Fellowship and news were shared. Several formal actions were taken, and several formal actions were taken:

•Chad Henderson sent his written resignation as representative to the state Democratic Committee since he is moving to China for two years. Nathan Gibson was named as representative to the state committee to replace Chad.

•A motion to send $250 to the John Osoff campaign was passed unanimously.

•There was a discussion of ways to educate the public on issues that affect working people and to be more visible in the community. It was agreed that we have a table or booth at large public gatherings.

The program was a vigorous discussion of the Single-Payer Health Insurance system. It would involve: universal coverage; no out-of-pocket payments; a single insurance plan in each region administered by a public or quasipublic agency; fixed global operating budgets for hospitals, nursing homes and staff model Health Maintenance Organizations (payment for caring for a number of patients instead of payment for fees for itemized services), free choice of providers; accountability to the public instead of to corporations; a ban on for-profit health care providers; protection of the rights of health care and insurance workers with training for new jobs for the thousands of clerks who would lose their jobs in the forprofit insurance industry.

Further change in the health care system is needed since the US spends more than $9,000 per person per year, the most of any other country, and has some of the poorer outcomes among developed countries, including ranking 39th in the recent study of 195 countries on the “Healthcare Access and Quality Index.”

There were generous donations to the treasury, which stood at about $1400 before this meeting.