Another week, another 17 Health Care Events

  By Health Care

Pennsylvania HCAN and our partners did another seventeen events to push health care reform along this week. Click on the links to go to detailed accounts of these events along with pictures and press reports.

Our Erie Coalition met Congresswoman Dahlkemper at the Erie Airport on Sunday November 8 to thank her for vote.

 
We held a health are forum in Williamsport the same day with citizens who have been active in lobbying Congressman Carney.
 

We did six drop-in thank you events at the offices of Congressmembers Brady, Carney Doyle, Kanjorski, Schwartz and Sestak on Monday November 9.
 

We did a thank you event for Representative Patrick Murphy on Tuesday November 10.
 

And we did nine other events on Thursday November 12, thank you events for Representatives Carney, Dahlkemper, Doyle, Kanjorkski and Schwartz who voted for the legislation and shame on you events for four Representatives who voted against it Altmire, Dent, Gerlach and Holden.  

 Over six hundred Pennsylvanians took part in these events!  

 Dahlkemper Welcome Backed to Erie at
Airport
 

Dahlkemper Welcome Home by Erie Health Care Coalition.

  


 


 

On Sunday November 8 HCAN, OFA PHAN and other coalition partners welcomed Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper with a big thank you for voting for the health care reform bill the previous evening.

  


 


 

Newspaper and television reports follow.

  


 


 

Dahlkemper Back in Erie after House Passes Health Care Reform Bill

  


 


 

November 8, 2009, 4:53 pm

  


 


 

Applause Sunday afternoon, as Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper arrives back in Erie, “everybody here realizes this is history in the making, just like Social Security and Medicare, a historical moment and we want to be a part of it and congratulate Kathy Dahlkemper,” says Richard McVay of Penn Action.

  


 


 

Dahlkemper says the past few weeks have been very intense, meetings and negotiating, but she’s pleased with the outcome, “I’m feeling relieved, obviously very happy we passed the legislation last night. It was really up to yesterday, we weren’t sure if we had the votes to make it pass.”

  


 


 

Dahlkemper says the Health Care Reform Bill will give everyone stability and security, “it will strengthen Medicare, help small businesses, help all individuals and those people denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.”

  


 


 

Even more meaningful to the Congresswoman, an amendment she co-sponsored, passed. The amendment bans government funded abortions, “I did not believe the American people, whether pro-choice or pro-life, wanted federal funds to go to pay for abortions.”

  


 


 

While the bill now goes to the Senate, Dahlkemper says her work is not finished, “I will be out over the next couple of months continuing to explain the legislation and answering questions and concerns.”

  


 


 

Dahlkemper says she hopes the American people will have a bill by the end of the year.

  


 



 

Report from YourErie.com http://yourerie.com/content/fulltext/?cid=86492: Dahlkemper in Erie After Public-Option Vote

  


 

 

 

  


Reported by: Jeremy Beecher
 

Sunday, Nov 8, 2009 @04:56pm

  


 

 

 

  


Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3rd) returned to Erie Sunday afternoon after casting her vote for a landmark healthcare reform bill that would create a government-run public insurance plan.

 

The bill she helped pass would require everyone to buy health insurance; vastly expand medicaid; and outlaw insurance industry practices like dropping sick patients and barring coverage of pre-existing conditions.
 
The bill would also create a government-run insurance plan, known as the public option, to compete with private insurers.“We’re giving them stability and security when it comes to their healthcare,” Dahlkemper said, “and I think in the end that’s really what it’s all about.”“I did not believe the American people, whether they’re pro-choice or pro-life, want federal funds to go to pay for abortions,” Dahlkemper said.

The Erie County GOP blasted Dahlkemper’s vote in a statement Sunday, calling the bill “the most irresponsible piece of legislation in memory” and warning that “Congresswoman Dahlkemper will have to answer why she has chosen to support Nancy Pelosi and her radical agenda over 90% of the time — particularly this piece of legislation.”
The statement said the House plan would explode the defecit, devastate small businesses and create a slippery slope toward a single-payer system.
 

Those concerns have several prominent senators, including Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) vowing to block any bill containing a public option from passing the Senate.

  


 

Erie Times Report: Dahlkemper in Erie After Public-Option Vote

  


 


Reported by: Jeremy Beecher

  



Sunday, Nov 8, 2009 @04:56pm

 

Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-3rd) returned to Erie Sunday afternoon after casting her vote for a landmark healthcare reform bill that would create a government-run public insurance plan.
 

The bill she helped pass would require everyone to buy health insurance; vastly expand medicaid; and outlaw insurance industry practices like dropping sick patients and barring coverage of pre-existing conditions.

The bill would also create a government-run insurance plan, known as the public option, to compete with private insurers.“We’re giving them stability and
security when it comes to their healthcare,” Dahlkemper said, “and I think in
the end that’s really what it’s all about.”
 
 
 
 
HCAN and PHAN co-sponsored at health care forum in Williamsport on Sunday, November 10. It was attended by about 75 people, most of whom have been active in support of health care reform.
Marc Stier speaking at Williamsport Forum
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shame on You Event
for

Representative Tim
Holden

 

 

 

  


 

Organized by Diane Topakian of SEIU and John Herr of Move On; Report from Diane Topakian

  


 


 


 

We had a great event at Holden’s HBG office, right on Front St- lots of beeps in support!!

  


 


 

75 people attended, did some chanting, heard some remarks from Marc Stier, from local constituents, and from the Vice President of the Harrisburg City Council Dan Miller. A group went inside and met with Tim Smith, .Congressman Holden’s district director.. People took sample LTEs to write letters to Patriot News.

  


 


 

Folks felt good expressing their anger and disappointment at Holden, who couldn’t vote for the bill because the polling was bad.

  


 


 

TV coverage:

  


 


http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story/Protesting-Healthcare-Vote/0iQy7q8H-kGV0KvFgv7MAA.cspx

 

 

Protesting Healthcare Vote

  


 

Reported by: CBS 21 News

  


Email: news@cbs21.comLast Update: 9:23 am

 

Shame on you! That’s what dozens of people are saying to Congressman Tim Holden after he voted no to the reform bill earlier this week.They marched on Front Street in Harrisburg. The group says Holden should have voted for the bill, because it affects many people in his district.
Eileen Connelly:
“Well, there’s what 48 million people in our country that are uninsured and millions more that are under insured. Many of them are working people or seniors and feel that the time is now to do health care reform.”
Congressman Holden’s office didn’t return our calls, when we called him for a comment today.

 

 

Copyright 2009 Newport Television LLC All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

  


 


 

  


 


 

Health care reform supporters rally in front of Tim Holden’s Harrisburg office to protest his vote against the health care reform bill

  


 


 

  


 


 

November 12, 2009, 2:00PM

  


 


 

 

  


 


 

CHRIS A. COUROGEN, Of The Patriot-News

  


 


 

Supporters of the healthcare reform bill passed last week by the U.S. House of Representatives protest outside Congressman Tim Holden’s Harrisburg office on North Front Street. The demonstrators took Holden to task for voting against the bill, which incudes the so-called “public option.”

  


 


 

“Tim Holden, shame on you.” That was the chant outside Holden’s Harrisburg office this morning when a group of about 50 demonstrators gathered to protest Holden’s vote last week against the health care reform bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

  


 


 

The protesters carried signs criticizing Holden and health insurance companies and supporting health care reform in general, and the so-called “public option” in particular. The group spent about 30 minutes walking the sidewalk in front of Holden’s office in the 1700 block of North Front Street before hearing from speakers that included Harrisburg City Councilman Dan Miller. A smaller group them went inside to present Holden’s staff with letters supporting their cause written by health care professionals, small business owners and patients.

  


 


 

Holden (D-Schuylkill) was one of 39 Democrats in the House who voted against the bill. Holden was not available for comment this morning, but previously the Blue Dog Democrat characterized his vote as a refusal to be a “pawn” in a political game. Holden was critical of H.B. 3962, which he argued lacks language to ensure illegal immigrants won’t receive taxpayer funded health care. Holden also said he opposed what he called “drastic cuts to Medicare and Medicaid providers” called for in the bill

  


 

 

 

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0 Comments

  1. Joseph
    November 16, 2009 at 1:34 am

    Everyone wants to be healthy, so why is it that so many are overweight? I gave up smoking to be healthier; I’m sure that over-eating can’t be any more difficult. For me, actions speak louder than words, and America’s actions shows me that we only pay lip service towards actually being healthy. We would rather buy an expensive pill than to actually work at loosing weight.

    We do have a right to Life, but at what cost to others? Can we justify taking from the healthy for the benefit of the unhealthy ethically? Are the unhealthy are more important to us than the healthy? If that’s true, how can we then claim that we are all equals? I see all of us as being equals, meaning, no claims over the lives of others. But I’m just a bleeding heart for ethics, what do I know? 😉

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