APA Healthcare: Dr. Bill Honigman Presentation

Posted 3 years ago by Leland Hoover

Meeting Summary

The 6/5/2021 General APA meeting was planned by the Healthcare Action Team.  Dr. Bill Honigman was the featured speaker.  He is a retired Emergency Room doctor from California who is active in politics and Medicare for All advocacy.  He discussed his experiences in the ER that informed him about how other progressive group’s work was related to healthcare. For example,  people with asthma due to poor air quality were frequent visitors to the ER.  He also showed a graphic slide that compared the Canadian healthcare system’s simplicity to the United State’s patchwork boondoggle. Dr. Bill’s talk was followed by Breakout sessions in which small groups discussed the following questions:

  • If our country or state had a single-payer, universal HC system, how would this change/impact your life?
  • If our country or state had a single-payer, universal HC system, how would this positively benefit your activism in another APA progressive group? For example, Education, Human Rights, Environment, Anti-War, Affordable Housing, Political Action?
  • What commitment/action will you take this week?

The breakouts were followed by a group discussion and specific actions people could take to advance single-payer, universal healthcare.  There were 23 people who attended.

It was inspiring!

Dr. Bill Honigman’s slides “COVID19 & MEDICARE FOR ALL: Follow The Science“. 

Calls To Action

Healthcare Actions/Commitments To Make An Impact

  • Join our healthcare action team or email list- contact Cathy.M.Blake@gmail.com 
  • Urge your group to participate in Healthcare Action Coalitions 
  • Share your personal stories of difficulties with the current healthcare system with the Healthcare  Action Team so that we have concrete examples of what kind of change is needed.
  • Participate in the July 24th Arvada March for Medicare For All (M4M4A)
  • Thank Representative Ed Perlmutter for being a co-sponsor of H.R. 1976 – Medicare for Call Sen Bennet and Sen Hickenlooper and urge passage of Medicare for All 
  • Call federal legislators to improve Medicare: Lower the eligibility age, include dental, vision, hearing and an out-of-pocket cap, allow negotiation for drug prices for all citizens.
  • Read the book: Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide by Abdul El-Sayed & Micah Johnson