The Senate bill, while in need of fixing, will do the following:

• Provide insurance for 31 Million uninsured Americans
• Offer full health coverage for a family of 3 making $27,500 for $105/month
• Provide Medicaid coverage to all people making up to 133% of poverty($24,350/ family of 3)
• Do away with pre-existing condition exclusions, recissions and life time coverage limits by insurance companies.

On Thursday, Jan. 21, I was at Rep. Patrick Murphy's Doylestown office with about 30 other supporters of health care reform from all over the County. Where was the press? Despite having been notified of the event, the Intelligencer chose not to send anyone to cover the gathering. This was especially disappointing since stories have been appearing frequently in the local press even when far fewer people show up in opposition to health care.

The public needs to know that there is widespread support in Bucks County for comprehensive health care reform, and that many are grateful to Patrick Murphy for his courageous support of a bill that will provide many reforms and make health care available to many more people.

As a person of faith, I strongly believe that all our people are entitled to health care as a matter of justice and morality, not just those fortunate enough to be able to afford it, old enough or poor enough to have government provided insurance, or lucky enough to have good employer insurance. Those blessed enough to have access to health care should be grateful for our blessings and work to assure that all God's people can get the care they need. All our major religious denominations support universal health care. Why is our country the only advanced nation in the world that does not provide some form of universal health care? It is long past time for our country to begin to provide health care too.]]> http://www.pennaction.org/blog/2010/01/letter-to-the-editor.html http://www.pennaction.org/blog/2010/01/letter-to-the-editor.html health care reform Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:43:30 -0500

The Senate bill, while in need of fixing, will do the following:

• Provide insurance for 31 Million uninsured Americans
• Offer full health coverage for a family of 3 making $27,500 for $105/month
• Provide Medicaid coverage to all people making up to 133% of poverty($24,350/ family of 3)
• Do away with pre-existing condition exclusions, recissions and life time coverage limits by insurance companies.

]]> http://www.pennaction.org/blog/2010/01/bucks-county-rally-for-healthc.html http://www.pennaction.org/blog/2010/01/bucks-county-rally-for-healthc.html Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:13:30 -0500 Penn Action and Pennsylvania Health Care for America Now Reacts to Massachusetts Special Election Results

Need for Good, Affordable Health Care Is Same Today As It Was Yesterday

Penn Action, a coalition partner of Health Care for America Now (HCAN) – the nation’s largest health care reform campaign – released the following statement after Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in Tuesday’s special election for the Senate seat in Massachusetts:

Robin Stelly, Penn Action (field coordinator)

“The need for good, affordable health care for everyone in Pennsylvania and the nation is the same today as it was yesterday. People in our state and in Bucks County still need to know they will be protected from medical bankruptcy, won’t be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions, and can get good, affordable insurance either through their job or on their own.

Health Care for America Now is committed to winning a guarantee of good, affordable health care we all can count on, and we will continue to push aggressively to get the best health care reform bill possible to the President’s desk for his signature as quickly as possible.

Tuesday’s vote was not a referendum on healthcare reform. It was a referendum on a particular candidate in a climate in which people, hard-pressed by the economy, are impatient for change. People are clearly angry and want more change, not less. Congress must keep going and finish health care reform.

Our nation’s health care crisis is not an incremental problem and cannot be fixed with incremental solutions. In survey after survey, voters continue to voice strong support for forcing health insurers to stop excluding people with pre-existing conditions, guaranteeing everyone has access to good, affordable coverage, and requiring health plans to spend premiums on medical care, not profits. All those popular core elements of reform are tied together, and we cannot do one without the others.

Massachusetts has shown that health reform works, with 98% of people covered and insurers not allowed to deny people based on pre-existing conditions. It’s time for the rest of the country to have the same access to good, affordable care.

  We are on track to pass a strong comprehensive bill, and we will stay focused on that until

  the President signs the bill into law.” 

Job Description

Penn Action /Penn Action Education Fund 
Executive Director

Posted December 22, 2009 

USAction and its sister organization USAction Education Fund (USAEF) are seeking a full time executive director for our state partner Penn Action and Penn Action Education Fund (PAEF). USAction builds power nationally and locally with our 27 state-based affiliates and partners. In our ten years of organizing, we have helped develop the model of the winning modern, coalition-based, progressive issue campaign. We organize for power for social, racial, economic and environmental justice for all. In 2009 we led fights for economic justice and security and for quality, affordable health care for all with Health Care for America Now.  Since its founding in early 2006, Penn Action/ PAEF have carried out USAction/USAEF federal issues campaigns and civic engagement campaigns. 

USAction/USAEF are dedicating resources to support an organizational rebuilding process through hiring an executive director for Penn Action/ PAEF.  In the first six months the executive director will prioritize fund development, a governing board, and advancing political relationships.   S/he will supervise regional staff to continue federal organizing campaigns in Erie and Bucks County. The executive director will be based in Philadelphia and will be on USAction/USAEF payroll for the first six months or until a solid foundation has been established.  Benchmarks and outcomes will be determined upon hire.

.   

Responsibilities

The executive director will be primarily responsible for developing a governing board and financial resources to build and sustain a powerful statewide organization, including the following responsibilities: 

• Work closely with USAction staff to design and implement a plan to build PennAction and PennAction Education Fund.  This plan should articulate a strategy for power in PA as part of our national strategy for progressive power.

• Establish a diverse board of directors to assist in the growth of the organizations.

• Create and implement fund development plans, including cultivating relationships with foundations, major donors, partners and business.

• Maintain the fiscal health of the organization by working with an accountant to develop accounting systems, financial policies, cash flow projections, and evaluate performance in relation to the organization’s budget.

• Lead the development and implementation of work plans and budgets and evaluate performance.

• Deepen organizational relationships with key allies at the state and national level.

• Represent Penn Action/ PAEF in their relationships with the media.

• Manage field staff in Erie and Bucks County to advance programmatic work. 

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree, with a minimum of 5 years experience in non-profit management, organizing, fundraising, and/or policy development. 
• History of successful fund development; relationships with Pennsylvania donors are preferred.
• Experience with budgeting and financial management.
• Previous experience working in partnership and coalition.
• Interest in and/or demonstrated experience in navigating state politics and legislatures.
• Experience managing staff from remote locations, preferred.
• Excellent communication skills including writing, speaking, and interpersonal skills.
• Commitment to social change and to working with diverse people and organizations.

Salary: Salary is commensurate with experience. 
 

Benefits: Includes health and dental insurance and generous leave policy 

Deadline:  January 22, 2010 

To Apply:   Send cover letter, resume, two writing samples, three professional references and salary history to:  Human Resources, USAction, 1825 K Street, NW, 210, Washington, DC 20006, fax: (202) 263-4530, e-mail: hr@usaction.org.

USAction is an equal opportunity employer and encourages women, people of color, LGBT people, and people with disabilities to apply. We work hard to recruit, retain, and identify leadership positions for staff members who represent these communities and/or who are from low-income backgrounds.

No phone calls, please.  
 

We need you to come to the rally at the Constitution Center this Thurs. Oct. 16 at 4:30 - to show that we want comprehensive health care reform now. We can't afford to wait any longer.

What: Rally for Health Care for America Now with Members of Congress

Rep. Chaka Fattah
Rep. Bob Brady
Rep. Allison Schwartz

When: Thurs., Oct. 16, Come at 4:30pm, the event will start at 5:00

Where: The Constitution Center

Can you volunteer at the event? We need some help greeting people and handing out signs. If you can come by at 4:00 please sign up to volunteer here.

Our government’s responsibility is to guarantee quality affordable health care for everyone in America and it must play a central role in regulating, financing, and providing health coverage by establishing:

• A truly inclusive and accessible health care system in which no one is left out.
  
  
• A choice of a private insurance plan, including keeping the insurance you have if you like it, or a public insurance plan without a private insurer middleman that guarantees affordable coverage.
  
  
• A standard for health benefits that covers what people need to keep healthy and to be treated when they are ill.  Health care benefits should cover all necessary care including preventative services and treatment needed by those with serious and chronic diseases and conditions.
  
  
• Health care coverage with out-of-pocket costs including premiums, co-pays and deductibles that are based on a family’s ability to pay for health care and without limits on payments for covered services.
  
  
• Equity in health care access, treatment, research and resources to people and communities of color, resulting in the elimination of racial disparities in health outcomes and real improvement in health and life expectancy for all.
  
  
• Health coverage through the largest possible pools in order to achieve affordable, quality coverage for the entire population and to share risk fairly.
  
  
• A watchdog role on all plans, to assure that risk is fairly spread among all health care payers and that insurers do not turn people away, raise rates or drop coverage based on a person’s health history or wrongly delay or deny care.
  
  
• A choice of doctors, health providers and public and private plans, without gaps in coverage or access and a delivery system that meets the needs of at-risk populations.
  
  
• Affordable and predictable health costs to businesses and employers. To the extent that employers contribute to the cost of health coverage, those payments should be related to employee wages rather than on a per-employee basis.
  
  
• Effective cost controls that promote quality, lower administrative costs and long term financial sustainability, including: standard claims forms, secure electronic medical records, using the public’s purchasing power to instill greater reliance on evidence-based protocols and lower drug and device prices, better management and treatment of chronic diseases and a public role in deciding where money is invested in health care