Working for

health care justice

Tennessee Health Care Campaign (THCC)
Health Care, TennCare, Cover TN & You
Info & Action Alert - State & National Actions
October 16, 2006

State & Local & National:
1. Early Voting Starts Wednesday: Oct. 18 to Nov. 2. Call your county election commission and get your county's early voting schedule. Click Here for contact information.

2. State Legislative Candidate Forums in Murfreesboro & Knoxville, Oct. 19: Attached is a series of questions that you are encouraged to ask. Get involved. Become an informed voter.

Knoxville, Thurs., Oct. 19, 6-8 PM
UNITE HERE Union Hall, 1124 N. Broadway
Contact: Susan McKay, slmckay@thcc2.org, 877-431-7083

Murfreesboro, Thurs., Oct. 19, 7–8:45 PM
Patterson Park Community Ctr., 521 Mercury Blvd.
Contact: Lori Smith, lsmith@thcc2.org, 877-431-7083

3. Become a Health Care Voter: Getting people out to vote is one of the most important rights that Americans have, yet one exercised by too few. Would you make some calls from home? Email Tony Garr for names and contact information.

I will take the pledge to be a Health Care Voter. I will do the following:

    1. Vote early.
    2. Talk to at least one person each day and encourage them to vote early.
    3. Educate myself and become an informed health care voter. Email Tony Garr to request a Health Care Voter Packet.
    4. Call 10 people on election day and make sure they vote.

4. Health Care in Tennessee: Do you have a question about Medicare Part D? Tony Garr will be interviewing Kyle Davis, the State Health Insurance Assistance Program Director for Middle Tennessee. Listen to Radio Free Nashville every Wednesday, 4-5 PM Central Time, on line, "Steaming Audio." Get the latest health care news, both local and national. Since Radio Free Nashville is a low-power community radio station, most of you will only be able to listen via streaming audio. To listen in to Radio Free Nashville. CLICK HERE.

5. “Health as a Civil Rights Issue: A Career Perspective”: Presented by David Satcher, MD, PhD

THE FIFTH ANNUAL LEVI WATKINS, JR. LECTURE - Open to the public. Reservations not required.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006
12:00 Noon, 208 Light Hall
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Presented by DAVID SATCHER, M.D., PH.D.
Director, Center of Excellence on Health Disparities; Poussaint-Satcher-Cosby Chair in Mental Health; Morehouse School of Medicine; 16th U.S. Surgeon General; Former U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health; and Director for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

6. Cover Tennessee: The Tennessean has gotten it all wrong and needs to receive letters to the editor in protest. Listen to what the Tennessean said in endorsing Governor Bredesen:

"Health care. An area of trouble for Bredesen, it is also a sign of his success. Bredesen inherited the huge and incredibly expensive TennCare program of health insurance for the state's poor, uninsured and people with disabilities. He has drawn sharp criticism for his handling of the program, culminating with his decision to cut about 200,000 from its rolls. But the cuts allowed the program to continue for some, if not everyone who needs it. And Bredesen has pushed through the legislature the Cover Tennessee program, which among other objectives aims to help many of those cut from TennCare."

Quote: "But the cuts allowed the program to continue for some, if not everyone who needs it." Our response: Over 67,000 very sick citizens were cut from TennCare and needed it.

Quote: "Bredesen has pushed through the legislature the Cover Tennessee program, which among other objectives aims to help many of those cut from TennCare." Response: By the state's own admission, very few of the people who were terminated from TennCare are going to be helped. What's more, very few people, period, are going to be helped.

Letters to the editor are needed today. Click Here.

Click here to see why Cover Tennessee gets poor grades for covering people.

The message from this administration is: "Don't Get Sick"

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Tony Garr • TN Health Care Campaign

tgarr@thcc2.org

1-877-431-7083