Statements – Health Care For Us

HEALTH CARE
JUSTICE
is JUSTICE
FOR ALL

We stand for equality, equity, and truth in health care and beyond. It is, and we are, all connected.

HC4US

HC4US STATEMENTS ON CURRENT EVENTS

CEASEFIRE NOW

Dec. 21, 2023 – Health Care for US (HC4US) condemns Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, along with Hamas’ terrorist attack in Israel on October 7th. We call for an immediate ceasefire to save Palestinian and Israeli lives, the release of hostages, investment in and reconstruction at scale of Gaza, and negotiations for an end to Israeli occupation and lasting peace with justice for Palestinians.

As an organization of volunteers working for universal, single-payer health care in the United States, we also condemn the US government for spending billions of American taxpayer funds not on ensuring health care for all in this country but on aiding and abetting Israel in inflicting death and destruction – equivalent to two nuclear bombs, according to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor – on 2.3 million Gazans penned in a strip of land about the size of Las Vegas. While about 1,200 people in Israel were killed in Hamas’ attack on October 7th, and 240 hostages were taken, the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s retaliation on Gaza has climbed to nearly 20,000, with untold numbers of victims buried under rubble, over 52,000 injured, and close to 2 million displaced.

We expressly note Israel’s attack on hospitals, ambulances, health care workers, and patients of all ages in Gaza, attacks that could be war crimes according to international humanitarian law and that WHO has called “catastrophic,” “unprecedented,” and “unacceptable.”

Since October 7th, Israeli occupation forces have reportedly killed 283 Gazan health professionals and detained 110, including the director of Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa. According to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), three-quarters of Gaza’s 35 hospitals are no longer functional; 24 have been bombed. The remaining nine functioning hospitals are only partially functional. Ambulance convoys have been bombed, and over 100 ambulances have been made inoperable.

Acute shortages of water, electricity, and medical supplies have led to doctors performing surgeries without anesthesia and resorting to vinegar and household detergents to sterilize wounds, among other hellish consequences. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Program has warned that half of Gaza’s population is starving, and WHO has reported worrisome increases in infectious disease symptoms, such as acute respiratory illness, diarrhea, and jaundice, the last possibly signaling a hepatitis outbreak.

Yet as dire as Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is today, it is also tragically only the latest example of bloodshed in a 75-year history of expulsions, apartheid, and collective punishment Palestinians under occupation have suffered at the hands of the Israeli government, with the support of the United States.

As single-payer activists, we call for an end to the occupation and reparative justice for Palestinians. We insist as well that the $3.3 billion American taxpayers pay per annum to fund Israeli militarism be returned instead to establish health care as a human right in the United States. All of this starts with a #CeasefireNOW.

WE ARE ONE

Single payer is not more committees.
That's a delay tactic.

SINGLE PAYER IS CALCARE AB2200

NO ON SB770

March 24, 2023 – HC4US joins union nurses in California who champion AB 1690, which sets in motion a single-payer health care coverage system for all residents in the state called CalCare.

Another bill, SB 770, would establish a “working group” to advise the Governor in informal conversations with the federal government about waivers to capture federal funds for a unified financing health care system.

SB 770 gives cover to state legislators to claim they are helping single-payer when at best, they would be helping to delay passage of the true single-payer CalCare bill that will be introduced in 2024. At worst, “unified financing” and HMO/ACO loophole language in SB 770 would set the stage for CA to adopt a multi-payer system that would not just preserve but strengthen the insurance industry’s profiteering grip on healthcare in our state.

Our Los angeles representatives and

RACISM

LA CITY COUNCIL

Oct. 12, 2022 – The appalling audio recording released of a conversation between City Council president Nury Martinez, sitting Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin De Leon, and recently resigned LA Federation of Labor president Ron Herrera revealed shocking anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, anti-LGBTQ bigotry openly shared by all those present.

This conversation was consistently cruel and viciously racist. The despicable attacks on a child are beyond reprehensible. The thuggish words and actions of these councilmembers demonstrate contempt for Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ constituents. This shameful meeting disrespected all Angelenos who value our diverse Los Angeles population and who care deeply about our vibrant multi racial, multi ethnic city. These four individuals have no place in government nor in any institution of public trust. Health Care for Us demands the resignations of all three councilmembers Martinez, Cedillo, DeLeon as Herrera has appropriately already resigned from the LA Fed.

The disgraceful agenda of this meeting was not about councilmembers sworn responsibility to work on solving the many problems of Los Angeles, but about how to undermine communities, consolidate power, and work against those they designate as “enemies” based on race and ethnicity. This was a “soft coup” planning, designed to deny representation to residents, upend the democratic process of collaboration, and to disrupt council member relationships with one another and with other City Officials. Health Care for Us condemns the betrayal of public trust by Martinez, De Leon, Cedillo. They must be removed.

Further, Health Care for Us condemns the ugly personal attacks on the honorable Councilmember Mike Bonin and his son. Denigrating a child is especially outrageous, deeply troubling and painful to witness. LA City Councilmember Mike Bonin was our respected champion for single payer, for the unhoused, for the rent stressed and for so many other issues of human need. Health Care for Us continues to deeply appreciate Mike Bonin for his dedication and compassionate service to Los Angeles. We send our solid support and love to him, his cherished son and his spouse.

As an organization that values the dignity and humanity of ALL people, Health Care for US cannot accept officials who violate the rights of the people they are supposed to serve. The single payer movement seeks to achieve health care justice for all of us, to unite all of us and to treat all of us with respect and compassion. We will not tolerate any public officials who abuse our trust, nor abandon their sworn duty to serve the people of Los Angeles. “An injury to one is an injury to all.” – MLK

Los Angeles residents deserve and must have officials who care about decency, justice, compassion, fairness, mutual respect and human rights. Health Care for Us demands the resignations of these LA City council members Martinez, DeLeon, Cedillo for their despicable bigotry, lack of humanity, disgraceful behavior and betrayal of public trust.

The appalling audio recording released this week of a conversation between City Council president Nury Martinez, sitting Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin De Leon, and recently resigned LA Federation of Labor president Ron Herrera revealed shocking anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, anti-LGBTQ bigotry openly shared by all those present. This conversation was consistently cruel and viciously racist. The despicable attacks on a child are beyond reprehensible. The thuggish words and actions of these councilmembers demonstrate contempt for Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ constituents. This shameful meeting disrespected all Angelenos who value our diverse Los Angeles population and who care deeply about our vibrant multi racial, multi ethnic city. These four individuals have no place in government nor in any institution of public trust. Health Care for Us demands the resignations of all three councilmembers Martinez, Cedillo, DeLeon as Herrera has appropriately already resigned from the LA Fed.

no justice. no peace.