OPS Office Hours, by One Payer States
Tuesday, May 26, 5 – 8 PM PT, 8 – 11 PM ET
Speakers: Ed Weisbart MD and David Belk MD
ZOOM SCHEDULE:
- 5:00- 8:00 p.m. OPS Office Hours gives health care justice advocates the chance to ask how they can make a difference to move us toward universal health care. On May 25, help on letter writing, tracking bills in the legislature, planning forums, and other skills was offered, with volunteers available to give individualized help on these and other topics in different zoom rooms. Most of the small group work was before and after the presentations as most people were there to hear Ed and David.
- 5:30-6:30 p.m. Ed Weisbart MD spoke and facilitated discussion on “Speaking for Single Payer” and how the current pandemic highlights the problems with not having a unified system.
- 6:30-7:30 p.m. David Belk MD spoke about “The Great American Healthcare Scam”. See Dr. Belk’s website The True Cost of Health Care and download his book.
- 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. Small group discussions on the speakers’ topics or other health care justice advocacy concerns.
SPEAKERS:
Ed Weisbart, MD, CPE, FAAFP
Family Medicine
Region(s): Midwest, National, South
Specialty: Family Medicine
Dr. Ed Weisbart chairs the Missouri chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, a 30 year-old non-profit research and education organization of more than 21,000 physicians, medical students, health professionals, and others who support single-payer national health insurance.
He is an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. He volunteers in a variety of safety net clinics and other non-profits across the St. Louis area, and as a volunteer physician recruiter for free clinics across the nation. He serves as vice president of the Consumers Council of Missouri.
He received his medical degree at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1979, completed his family medicine residency and a fellowship in family medicine education at Michigan State University in 1982, and practiced family medicine at Rush Medical Center in Chicago for 20 years. He served as chief medical officer of Express Scripts from 2003 to 2010.
Dr. Weisbart has had several articles published in both national medical journals and local media outlets regarding the health care needs of the uninsured.
David Belk, MD
Board Certified in Internal Medicine
David Belk got his Medical degree from the University of Southern California School of Medicine and is board certified in Internal Medicine. He currently has a solo practice in Northern California. Over the last nine years, he has devoted most of his free time to untangling and demystifying health care costs in this country. He has discovered through his research that the cost of most health care products in the US are both hidden and very deceptive, and that these deceptions are often used to take advantage of consumers. The results of much of his research can be found on his website The True cost of Healthcare (http://truecostofhealthcare.net).
Go to website The True Cost of Health Care by David Belk MD and download his book,