Health Care For All March and Rally - July 25, 2009

The march and rally, with two dozen supporting organizations, speakers, and over a thousand marchers, was inspiring. You could feel the energy of the crowd, united in spirit, for “Healthcare for All!” The experience was uplifting.

I picked up the 4 Lakes Green Party(4LGP)banner and sign at Larry’s house around 1:00 p.m. After giving some consideration as to where I should park my car, I decided to park close to the Capitol and walk down State Street to Library Mall where the march was to start. In retrospect, after walking down and then marching back up State Street and climbing the long stairway to stand with my 4LGP sign behind the speaker’s podium, I wished that I would have chosen to park closer to the Library Mall. Parking closer to the starting point of the march would have given me a fresher start.

It was crowded on the mall but Jeff and I met without difficulty. The march was led by Mama Digdown's Brass Band and the Raging Grannies were ahead of us. Jeff was able to hold both ends of the banner himself and position it so it could be seen by State Street patrons on the sidewalks along the side of the street. Soon after we started marching, Jeff’s daughter, Kate, joined the march and from that point, she and Jeff carried the banner. I carried and waved both the 4LGP sign and a smaller “Health Care for All!” sign.

After we reached the steps to the Capitol, I saw Jeff and his daughter climb the left side of the stairway and position the 4LGP banner at the level above the speaker’s podium. I climbed the stairway on the right side and stood on the first step of the stairway directly behind the speaker’s podium waving the 4LGP sign and smaller sign as I had done during the march.

The rally was dedicated to Dr. Linda Farley who died on June 9, 2009, at the age of 80. A commemorative plaque was presented to her husband Dr. Gene Farley. Dr. Linda Farley was an ardent champion of a single-payer health care system run by the government as a public good rather than by for-profit insurers. She would have loved to have been a part of the rally and the “Healthcare for All” debate that is now taking place.

The first speaker was the moderator and, among other concerns, spoke about her husband’s small business which because of the economic down-turn could no longer afford the high cost of insurance for its employees.

A farmer told of his insurance policy with a $10,000 deductible that won’t cover an injury to his right arm because of a pre-existing condition. At one point, he motioned toward the Capitol and said that we couldn’t expect anything to come out of that building!

A woman from Sun Prairie said that fighting with United Health Care during her treatment for cancer was worse than having cancer! Payments for mammograms were caught up in the insurance company’s interpretation whether they were “diagnostic” or “preventive”: one category is covered, the other is not.

A clergyman from Sun Prairie told of calling his parents and finding that they each recently had ten teeth pulled. His father had worked for General Motors which was cutting their vision and dental coverage so they needed to get all of the work done before the insurance coverage was cancelled.

A physician from U.W. spoke of a patient, in his thirties, with diabetes, who could not afford test strips for his glucose meter. The doctor knew that without glucose test strips to help the patient keep his diabetes under control, that he (the doctor) would soon see him back at the hospital. As the physician predicted, the patient soon returned for urgent care.

Representative Tammy Baldwin received a resounding ovation and crowd affirmation of her support for single-payer. Tammy led the crowd in cheering for health care for all and encouraged the crowd to let their voices be heard all the way to Washington. She named members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation who were not supportive of a public option.

Senator Kohl, although invited, declined to attend and his stance on “Healthcare for All!” brought boos from the crowd.

Dr. Gene Farley closed the rally with his wife’s favorite chant: Everybody In, Nobody Out! … Everybody In, Nobody Out! … Everybody In, Nobody Out!

- Fred