Introducing "OPS Office Hours"
With this pandemic highlighting the problems with a fragmented, for-profit health care system, One Payer States is offering “OPS Office Hours” online to help people find out how they can make a difference. We are using Zoom videoconferencing, which also gives phone numbers so people can call in, if they don't have reliable internet.
How It Works:
- A moderator from OPS Office Hours will welcome people into the "main room," or “lobby.” This is where people enter when they click on the meeting link, or when they call in. Volunteers may choose to hang out here while awaiting guests.
- Sometimes a scheduled speaker will be talking about something we think will interest everyone. This may be in the main lobby, or in a breakout room.
- Volunteers from OPS, Physicians for a National Health Program, the League of Women Voters, and other allies will generally be available for group trainings, one-on-one guidance, and small group discussions. They will go into “breakout rooms” to help guests singly, or in groups with similar interests.
- A host will be helping move people into the room with the volunteer who can help them.
- We have a limit of 100 people at a time. There isn't a limit to how many people can register, but it is first-come, first-served until we fill up.
- If you have a burning question, send us an email and we will try to help. You don't have to wait until OPS Office Hours. WAITTVT@gmail.com.
- If you really wanted to hear a speaker or a panel discussion, etc., let us know what you missed and we will see whether it was recorded or whether the person might present again. Most of our speakers are passionate about their topics and are glad to talk about it more!
Signing up for OPS Office Hours Events
We want to be responsive to current events, so we won’t always have a lot of time to publicize OPS Office Hours. To get on our email list to hear when they are planned, please send a request to WAITTVT@gmail.com.
Please tell your first and last name, your town and your state. We’d very much appreciate it if you could also state any health care advocacy organizations with which you are involved. It would be a bonus if you could suggest topics you’d like to learn about, or other ways we could help.
If you have a group with a specific interest - or you have a specific interest and are willing to recruit a group for a training, let us know at WAITTVT@gmail.com.
Check out whether we have any public OPS Office Hours currently scheduled. Typically, you will have to register for an event and will get a link for the event by email after registering.
You can check out tips for participating in OPS Zoom events with breakout rooms [Zoom Tips].
Welcome to the team!
At the next OPS Office Hours:
Join us on Zoom. Aug. 11, 2020, 04:00 p.m. Pacific Time (7:00 ET)
Here is the link for registering:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErd-uhpjspH9OXgjH368dvOUZf3-7QxvXa
First Speaker, 4:30 p.m.: Willie Fleming, founder of the International Minority Coalition of North Carolina.
Topic: Winning Universal Healthcare Through The 5% Solution.
Willie Fleming was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award by the Governor of North Carolina. He is also the Founder of the International Minority Coalition. Some of his political achievements are below.
- Chair precinct 95
- President Afro-American caucus of Mecklenburg County Democratic Party
- Elected 2011 State President African-American caucus (2 terms)
- State Executive Committee member (2 terms)
- Worked with Mecklenburg county Hispanic caucus and auxiliaries
- Currently working with AAPI and Hispanic leaders, representatives from Ghana, Jamaica and American
Willie was appointed as the Chair of Minority Relations for the 12th Congressional District in the 2019 Democratic Convention.
Second Speaker 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET: Brianna Mahnke, SNaHP member and medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine
Topic: Single Payer 101 talk on “US Health Insurance and Single-Payer: The Basics”
Hope to see you soon!
Betty Keller
Chair, OPS Education and Advocacy Work Group
Past Office Hours Sessions
May 19, 2020
1:00 pm Pacific Time
Topic: How to Talk With Business Owners About Universal Health Care
Warren George, semi-retired business consultant from Corvallis, Oregon, reports on a study he commissioned (see variedstrengths.com) showing strong public and business owner support in Oregon for universal health care. He cautions planners to carefully critique proposals by those who imply that the majority of funding will come from taxing the highest income earners. Click here for video of Warren's talk.
Summary of May 19 session here.
Tuesday, May 26, 5 - 8 PM PT, 8 - 11 PM ET
First Speaker: Ed Weisbart MD
“Speaking for Single Payer” and how the current pandemic highlights the problems with not having a unified system. Here.
Second Speaker: David Belk MD
Dr. Belk speaks of the Great American Health Care Scam. 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).
Summary of May 26 session here.
Tuesday, June 16 4:00 p.m. - 7 p.m. PT (7:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET)
First Speaker: Ed Weisbart MD 4:15 - 5:15 p.m. PT, 7:15 - 8:15 p.m.ET
A basic 20-minute, COVID-relevant talk as a model for a skeptical or conservative audience, then another 10-20 minutes going back through parts of it to unpack how the specific word choices applied some of the principles from the May 26 talk. Click here.
Second Speaker: David Belk MD 5:15 - 6:15 p.m. PT, 8:15 - 9:15 p.m.ET
WHY PRIVATE INSURANCE SHOULD PLAY LITTLE OR NO ROLE IN HEALTH CARE
Please view these videos on health insurance by David Belk MD of Alameda, California. They were recorded by One Payer States on June 16, 2020.
1. Why you don’t need Medicare “Advantage" plans and how they cause more harm than good: tinyurl.com/yc6uahlx 2:57 min.
2. Why avoiding Part D Plans until you need a brand-name drug is a good idea and will save you money: tinyurl.com/ycgcyect 7:50 min.
3. Why employer-based self-insurance sounds like a good deal for employers but isn’t:tinyurl.com/y9knjv5l 6:55 min.
4. Why insurance companies rush to manage high-risk programs like Medicare and Medicaid: tinyurl.com/y7ukzegn 3:46 min.
Hint: Insurance companies don’t worry about pre-existing conditions when they administer public programs because we the public still bear the ultimate risk. Administrative overhead for Medicare Advantage is 10% versus 3% for Traditional Medicare. For other private health insurance the overhead is 10-30%.
5. Save and expand Traditional Medicare: tinyurl.com/y8exmft8 6:12 min.ace holder
6. Full 60 minute video by Dr. Belk on the failures of private health insurance: https://youtu.be/z6kmZu1p5MQ?t=2THE US HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS NOT A SYSTEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23lq7znnQpk
Summary of June 16 session here.
Tuesday, June 30, 4:00 p.m. - 7 p.m. PT (7:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET)
First Speaker Georgia Davenport 5:20 Preparing for ballot measures. Using social media.
Georgia Davenport is the founder of Whole Washington- the organization behind the state of Washington's Medicare for All push. She speaks about the impetus for and steps needed to create a ballot measure for state-based universal health care.
Second Speaker: Ed Weisbart MD
6:45 - 7:45 Giving presentations: The mechanics, logistics. Dr. Weisbart gives us his tips for preparing and delivering talks. How to build a story arc, how to arrange the tables and chairs, how to gain and maintain interest from the audience.
Wednesday, July 15, 4:00 p.m. - 7 p.m. PT (7:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET)
Funding a Universal Health Care System 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Warren George, semi-retired business consultant from Corvallis, Oregon, reports on the variety of tax bases that may be considered to support a universal health care system.He demonstrates an interactive spreadsheet to facilitate comparisons of tax combinations.
For a summary of the July 15 Office Hours click here.
Tuesday, July 28, 2020, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. PT (7:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET)
Emergency! HR 5010 (5:00 - 5:20 p.m.)
Jeanne Nicholson, retired public health nurse and former state senator of Colorado speaks on HR 5010 the State Based Universal Health Care Act Of 2019. Click here.
Emergency! HR 6906 (5:30-6:00)
Peter Shapiro, who serves as delegate of the California Alliance for Retired Americans on the Alameda Labor Council as well on the One Payer States Policy Work Group, gives a brief overview of the challenges COVID-19 has presented to how we finance and deliver health care in the U.S. Then he talks about what HR 6906 would do. This is the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act, which expands Medicare in the short term, until we have an FDA-approved vaccine that is widely available.
Click here for video of his talk.
Building the Movement for Health Care Advocacy (6:15-7:30 p.m.)
Rev. Sandy Strauss speaks about reaching out to faith-based communities. Her work as the Director of Advocacy and Ecumenical Outreach for the Pennsylvania Council of Churches includes informing, educating and empowering people of faith on significant public issues, as well as facilitating relationships with those who share common missions. We look forward to hearing how we can identify common ground and work with faith communities, whose work was so important in the civil rights movement. Click here for video of her talk.