WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Held at the Alamo Theater in Bucksport, Maine with a live audience and broadcast live. Panelists were:
Jerry Call, Midcoast Health Care Reform,
Phil Caper, MD and Single-Payer Advocate
Joel Allumbaugh, President of Maine Association of Health Underwriters, National Worksite Benefits Group
Tarren Bradgen, CEO of the Maine Heritage Policy Center
Jim Fisher of host of WERU’s “Common Health” moderated
Includes audience questions and comments.
Engineers: Joel Mann, Matt Murphy, Chris Stark
WERU Table: Sylvia Smith
Executive Producer: Amy Browne
(Note that this is in 2 parts— the longer segment is the 1st part)

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Executive Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Contributors: Matt Murphy, Sylvia Smith, Willie Marqaurt

Segment 1: We continue our coverage of the rally for Single Payer Universal Health Care that was held in Augusta May 30th. FMI: www.mainehealthcarereform.org, Blog:http://medicare444all.blogspot.com/
(The first 2 hours of audio from the rally aired on Weekend Voices the last 2 Saturdays. Those programs are also archived on this site.)
WERU is holding a Public Forum called “Single Payer: Fact vs. Fiction” at the Alamo Theater on Tuesday evening June 23rd from 6-8p.m. A panel of speakers will include those for and those against the Single Payer option. Audience members will be encouraged to comment and ask questions, and the event will be broadcast live. Admission is free

Segment 2: Matt Murphy talks with one of the organizers of Poetry Downeast’s inaugural Open mic and Reading at the Grind in Ellsworth, on Wednesday, June 24th, 7-9p.m. FMI: bowenswersey@gmail.com, 207-469-7328

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Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by Willie Marquart and Sylvia Smith, edited for length by Amy Browne

Today we continue our coverage of the rally for Single Payer Universal Health Care that was held in Augusta on May 30th, with this audio recorded at the event by Willie Marquart and Sylvia Smith. It has been edited slightly for length.

Feature the Raging Grannies; activist Nancy Galland; Representative Ed Mazurek, the sponsor of a Maine resolution supporting single payer; Green Party Gubernatorial Candidiate Lynne Williams; John Newton of the Maine Chapter of the Maine Chapter of the AFL-CIO; and activists Marybeth Sullivan & Dexter Kamilewicz.

Join us for the weekday edition of Voices, Tuesday afternoon at 4, to hear the final segment of speakers at the rally. The first set of speakers aired on Weekend Voices last Saturday. If you missed it then, you can listen at our archives at www.weru.org

WERU is holding a Public Forum called “Single Payer: Fact vs. Fiction” at the Alamo Theater on Tuesday evening June 23rd from 6-8p.m. A panel of invited speakers will include those for and those against the Single Payer option. Audience members will be encouraged to comment and ask questions, and the event will be broadcast live. That’s 6-8p.m., June 23rd, at the Alamo in Bucksport. Admission is free.

**CORRECTION— It was incorrectly stated in today’s program that Rep. Ed Mazurek is the sponsor of HR 676.

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Executive Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Segment 1: Rally for Single-Payer Health Care, part 1. Audio recorded by Sylvia Smith and Willie Marquart. Edited by Amy Browne.
The speakers heard in today’s segment were:
Jerry Call, co-founder of Maine Health Care Reform; Richard Dillihunt, MD, a retired general, vascular and transplant surgeon. He is a member of Physicians for National Health Program and a veteran spokesperson in Maine for single payer, universal health care; William Clark, MD. A physician of Internal medicine and a specialist in addiction medicine, Dr. Clark was formerly on the faculty of Harvard medical school and president of the American Academy of Communication in Healthcare; Claire Mortimer, a Family Nurse Practitioner currently working at Maine Dartmouth Family Practice in Fairfield. She has been an activist for national single payer health care since the late 1970′s. The emcee was Pat LaMarche, columnist and former Green Party Candidate for Maine Governor and Vice President. Listen to “Voices” and “Weekend Voices” over the next few weeks for more audio from the rally. A
FMI: www.mainehealthcarereform.org, Blog: http://medicare444all.blogspot.com/

WERU “Single-Payer: Fact vs. Fiction” public forum & live broadcast will take place at the Alamo Theater in Bucksport, Tuesday 6/23/09, 6-8p.m. All are welcome, admission is free. FMI: info@weru.org

Segment 2: Operation Breaking Stereotype. Producer: Leah Renee Deasy
Students from Searsport District High School and the Urban Assembly School of Law and Justice What is Operation Breaking Stereotypes? What do teens feel strongly about? What are some things students in NY and Maine have in common?
FMI: Operation Breaking Stereotypes: www.operationbreakingstereotypes.org

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Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne
Topic: Single-payer universal health care. What is it? How would it address the current health care crisis in the U.S.? Why is there so much support? Who are the powerful opponents? Also: information about the Rally for Universal Health Care taking place on Saturday 5/30/09 in Augusta and other upcoming forums and programs.
Guests: Jerry Call, organizer/activist for Single-Payer and Dr. Phillip Caper, retired MD and Professor

FMI: www.mainehealthcarereform.org

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Producer/Host: Jim Fisher
Topic: Paying for Health Care
What has happened to the single payer option in congressional hearings? What is the connection between health care finance and the crisis in rural hospitals? What can we do to advocate for better health care?
Guests: Dr. Philip Caper, former professor, practitioner and current advocate for health care reform; Dr. John Benziger, Pathologist and Lab Director at Maine General Medical Center in Waterville and Augusta.
Call in show

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Executive Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Contributing Producer: Marge May

Topic: Familes USA Teleconference on a new report published in April:Too Great a Burden: Americans Face Rising Health Care Costs
The teleconference focuses on Maine and was recorded by Marge May for WERU on 4/29/09

What percentage of real income goes to healthcare costs in Maine?
What are the trends in healthcare costs? Does Rep. Chellie Pingree support H.R. 676, the Conyers bill that proposes a single-payer option

Participants: Ron Pollack , Executive Director of Families USA; Rep. Chellie Pingree and others

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Producer/Host: Jim Fisher
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne
Topic: Letters to the President: Addressing America’s Health
How do we pay for health care? Why move to a single payer system? How can we manage costs?
Guests: Dr. Philip Caper, retired M.D. and Professor of Medicine; Jerry Call, co-founder of MidCoast Health Care Reform (www.midcoasthealthcarereform.org)
Call in show

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