Friends,

Thanks to all who participated in our rally & march on Friday. Hopefully you
are now dry!

See these sites for coverage of the rally:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/05/97118.html
http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/

For those who were not able to attend here is a great way to become part of our
growing movement. On Monday May 12th from 12p to 5p, the Coalition Against
Privatization is asking supporters to call or email the office NY State
Superintendent of Insurance Eric Dinallo and register your opposition to the
"conversion plan" for GHI & HIP. Please call early and often and encourage
others to do the same. Out-of-state friends can also call as it will let the
Superintendent know that a larger national audience is watching.

Phone the NY State Insurance Dept. of Public Affairs (leave a message if no
human answers): (212) 480-5262
Email (cc a copy to noprivatization@... ): health@...

The great part about this action is that we are building on previous work. The
Superintendent already has the testimony of more than 100 people who opposed the
conversion (privatization) at the January 29 & 31 hearings. You might follow
up the phone call or email by mailing your comments to the Superintendent :


Honorable Eric R. Dinallo

New York State Superintendent of Insurance, One Commerce Plaza

Albany , NY , 12257

Peace,
Billy Wharton

Organizer
Coalition Against Privatization
www.myspace.com/saveourhealthcare


Here are some questions/points you might ask/make to the Superintendent or
whoever answers the phone:
** What is the status of the conversion proposal?
** Can the Superintendent send you a copy of the impact analysis? (no impact
analysis has been done)
**State in very clear terms that you encourage/request/demand that
Superintendent Dinallo reject the application for conversion and develop a plan
for reforming GHI & HIP while keeping the companies non-profit.

Here are some facts about the GHI/HIP conversion (privatization):
** More than 4 million New Yorkers are a part of GHI or HIP, including 500,000
city workers (including retirees)
** The merger of GHI & HIP would mean that 93% of city workers would be in one
plan and that a 1% increase in premiums would cost the city $27.5 million; Such
an increase would lead to highly contentious bargaining with TWU, UFT and D.C.
37 as City Hall attempts to increase health care concessions.
** GHI & HIP conversion would remove non-profit safeguards: only 15% of the
budget can be spent on administration, there is some oversight on premium
increases, there are restrictions on receiving finance from capital markets and
non-profits are restricted from tiering, i.e. dividing policy holders into
"low-risk" and "at-risk" pools with different premium levels and access to care.
** GHI & HIP claim to be cash-starved while HIP holds more than $900 million in
reserves; studies of non-profit insurers in Washington and Maryland indicated
that company claims of the need for outside financing were overstated
** No impact analysis has been conducted. Such a study should be independent
and include sample groups from all sectors of GHI & HIP policyholders.
** The GHI & HIP conversion only includes "promises" that they will not raise
premiums in the near-term - it leaves no room for oversight by NY State (for
instance, there are no plans for things like rate hearings)
** In four other states applications for conversion have either been withdrawn
or defeated after public outcry - Kansas, Maryland, Washington and and North
Carolina - since 2001.
**Conversion would place 4 million people in NY State at the mercy of the
for-profit insurance industry - this industry has left more than 46 million
people without insurance, raised premiums by a cumulative 83% since 2001 and
resulted in medical care spending becoming the highest percentage outlay of
disposable income in the US.
** The US is the only major industrial country without universal coverage.
Passage of the single payer insurance bill H.R. 676 would end the GHI & HIP
debate.




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