Greetings,

We hope everyone is healthy, safe and hanging in there during these difficult times.

Americans are worried about the cost of living including health care costs. Polling shows that more Americans are blaming corporations, CEOs and elected officials. Fortunately there are physicians, filmmakers, journalists and whistleblowers proclaiming the truth and inspiring us to spread the message about CALCARE, a single payer program that will provide health care, free at the point of service to residents of California. 

Three physicians who are longtime warriors in the fight for Medicare for All write about three areas of assault on our health; tax-funded medical coverage, public health and medical research. Although reforms at the federal level are not likely to occur during this presidency, Adam Gaffney, David U. Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler encourage us to have a positive vision of change for health care and share this vision with the public now. “We must resist Trump’s agenda today, even as we prepare to rebuild something better tomorrow.” Their article is The Dismantling of American Health Care. 

We also share information about threats to the quality and accessibility of health care for veterans and details of United HealthGroup’s business practices. 

HC4US will activate for CALCARE at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Labor Coalition Labor Day Parade, Picnic & Rally on Monday, September 1st in Wilmington.  

Documentary Screening

LIFE AFTER is a gripping investigative documentary that exposes the tangled web of moral dilemmas and profit motives surrounding assisted dying. Disabled filmmaker Reid Davenport uncovers shocking abuses of power while amplifying the voices of the disability community fighting for justice and dignity in an unfolding matter of life and death.

There are live and virtual screenings. Since watching this documentary may be emotionally intense, an E-book Mental Health Viewing Guide for LIFE AFTER is available.

Prevent Health Insurance Premium Costs From Skyrocketing 

Contact your members of Congress today and urge them to prioritize the health of constituents by supporting legislation to extend the Affordable Care Act (Covered CA) tax credits.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provides specialized, high-quality medical care for about 9 million veterans. It’s our nation’s largest and only truly integrated public health care system. Veterans enrolled in the VHA experience higher quality care with shorter wait times, than non-VA patients. The VHA also provides wraparound services. Read The Illusion of Choice by Suzanne Gordon to learn about veterans, how the VHA plays a vital role in our country’s medical system and how Congress is undermining veterans’ care with false promises.

Unfortunately there has been a shift to privatization of medical care for veterans. Trump’s Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, who has ties to the Koch brothers, is showing that he wants to accelerate this shift by downsizing direct service provision and increasing the VHA’s reliance on outside vendors. How can the system accommodate 9 million more Americans, especially veterans with complex mental, medical, social and physical needs?

Read about Collins’ privatization campaign in this article by Russell Lemle and Jasper Lemle in the American Prospect. 

Our health care system is already overloaded and has been worsened by passage of Trump’s budget reconciliation bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill. See cost increases for all 50 states in this Center for American Progress article by Amina Khalique, Kennedy Andara and Natalie Baker.

From HEALTH CARE un-covered

While the annual compensation of health insurance CEOs skyrockets, two new polls identify the stark financial reality of Americans’ financial situations. Below we provide a link to video of recent testimony by Dr. Adam Gaffney and Wendell Potter during a Senate Committee hearing. Their testimony showing concern for Americans as patients and consumers provides a sharp contrast to the other panelists.

Jessica Corbett of Common Dreams provides analysis of insurance premium increases from Wendell Potter and results of a new poll by AP and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Of American adults, 42% identified health care costs as a major stressor and 17% have used buy now, pay later schemes for medical or dental care. Read the article HERE.

Michael Sainato of The Guardian, provides not only results from a poll sponsored by the Century Foundation but also connects the dots between Americans’ financial woes, how we use credit to pay bills, the dismantling of regulations on credit companies and who we believe is to blame. 

Of those polled, 60% faulted Trump for their financial struggles, 51% said corporations have made life more difficult for average people and 52% said billionaires (see chart above) have made life tougher. Read the article HERE. 

On July 31, 2025 Dr. Adam Gaffney testified at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Hearing About Efforts To Lower Health Care Costs. From experience as an internal medicine doctor and his research, Dr. Gaffney makes the case for Medicare for All. “….to afford…. expanded and upgraded coverage, we’ll need to find savings elsewhere. Uh, and there’s an obvious way to do that. We can eliminate the gargantuan waste imposed by private health insurers. They essentially light your dollars on fire.”

Wendell Potter also testified about the Sunlight Report on UnitedHealth Group

(see Eyes On United Healthcare section below). When Senator Sanders asked the panel if they believed health care is a human right, guess who agreed with this while the other speakers hemmed and hawed! 

31:15 – 36.44 Dr. Gaffney

37:09 – 43:00  Wendell Potter

47:58 – 49.11 Senator Sanders

49:12 – 50:03 Dr. Gaffney

52:00 – 53:37 Sanders and Potter

1:23:52 – 1:25:58 Senator Hassan and Dr. Gaffney

The Sunlight Report on UnitedHealth Group (UHG) is the result of more than a year of painstaking work by the Center for Health & Democracy (CHD). Wendell Potter is the president of CHD. The report identifies the scope of UHG’s power and control of not only health insurance but every aspect and more of health care in the USA and in other countries, making it the most powerful health care company in the world.

Read the Sunlight Report if you want to know:

• The number and variety of subsidiaries that are under the UHG umbrella

• How UHG’s vertical integration strategy enables it to be involved in the financial and clinical aspects of patient care for millions of Americans, even if we are not enrolled in a UnitedHealthcare plan

• UHG’s role in data collection, sales and marketing

• How UHG skirts federal rules on revenues and reviews by regulators

• Why insurers are among the top spenders on lobbying in Washington and state capitals

• UHG’s link to Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and health care for veterans

Jarod Facundo and Patrick Rucker write in The American Prospect about UHG’s business and management practices and ethical concerns related to controlling cost and boosting profits.

HC4US is looking forward to seeing you at this HUGE Labor Day event in Wilmington. We will have a booth and talk to union members and their families about how CalCare will benefit all Californians.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Can you spare a few hours on Labor Day in the Harbor-South Bay? We would love to meet you and encourage you to volunteer with us at our booth. Please contact Carol Fodera at info@hc4us.org. Set-up starts at 8 AM and the event ends at 4 PM.

ORGANIZE. AGITATE. EDUCATE. LEGISLATE.

THANK YOU!