Holiday 2024 Newsletter

Greetings,

What a remarkable year 2024 has been for Health Care for All North Carolina (HCFANC)! From launching an upgraded website and revitalizing our social media presence to celebrating our 30th anniversary, we've made significant strides. We are also proud to share that two of our board members, Rebecca Cerese and Vice President Dr. Elaine Greene, were honored with prestigious awards for their tireless work in advancing our mission. Dr. Greene received the Founders Award for Excellence in Advocacy by Doctors for America and Rebecca Cerese was presented with the Health Justice Advocate of the Year award for Health Coverage from the national advocacy group Families USA.

These achievements are just a few highlights of the progress HCFANC has made this year. As we look ahead to 2025, we remain focused on expanding our outreach efforts, forging new partnerships, and continuing to advocate for a single-payer healthcare system. While we anticipate challenges with the arrival of a new administration, we are committed to pressing forward with our mission and collaborating with like-minded organizations to bring about meaningful change.

Thank you for your continued support.

Wishing you all a prosperous 2025!
The Board Members of Health Care for All NC

From Thoughts and Prayers to Action

by Jonathan Kotch, MD, MPH, Board Member

The murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, on the streets of Manhattan recalled a similar event that remains a sad memory for those of us of a certain age. In 1980, John Lennon also was shot to death on the streets of Manhattan. Lennon’s death led to an outpouring of sorrow and grief. He is still remembered every year on his birthday by an open jam in Central Park on a landscaped memorial to his memory called Strawberry Fields. 

By contrast, the death of Brian Thompson was met by a collective silence. Few if any calls for “thoughts and prayers” and little public sorrow or grief, at least none that occupied any appreciable landscape either in legacy media or social media. What did erupt was a paroxysm of anger toward private health insurance companies, among which UnitedHealthcare is one of the biggest.

While we must condemn any shooting death as a heinous crime, we must also acknowledge the pain and suffering that private health insurance companies are responsible for far greater harm by virtue of delay and denial of services and reimbursement. To “delay” and “denial” must be added “defraud.” For example, Medicare Advantage plans routinely choose more specific or severe (and more highly paid) diagnostic codes, adding irrelevant or non-existent diagnoses. (Susan Rogers, PNHP Past-President)

Rates of denials of reimbursement have increased since the industry introduced AI to vet health insurance claims. Premiums, deductibles, and co-payments continue to rise, as has under-insuredness and medical debt.

The animosity of the American people toward health insurance companies has been festering under the surface. Is this moment of revelation an inflection point for those of us who advocate for universal, single-payer health care, free of for-profit health insurance companies? Health Care for All NC is planning an Action Agenda that includes toolkits and online workshops for writing letters to the editor and letters to policy makers. Look for more opportunities to table at community events and professional meetings. Get started by reviewing 20 Reasons for Ending Medicare Advantage Plans, a list generated by members of HCFANC, Healthcare Justice NC, and the NC Medicare for All Coalition, under the guidance of Rebecca Cerese

Medical Debt Relief and Protection

The North Carolina Justice Center, where our Board Member, Rebecca Cerese is the Health Policy Advocate is focusing on the issue of medical debt relief and protection. They have recently produced two important resources that we wanted to make sure were out in the community. One is a Fact Sheet about the new NC DHHS Medical Debt Relief and Protection Program which explains what provisions are included and when they will be implemented. The next is more of a "know your rights" information sheet about what to do when you get a hospital bill. Both are available in English and Spanish for download.

Senate Bill 382

Members of the HCFANC board joined Reverend Barber's Moral Monday protest on December 9, to speak out against SB 382, which claimed to help Hurricane Helene victims but instead shifted power to the General Assembly and away from many recently elected Council of State members. There was a broad coalition of community organizations in attendance to defend the health and wellness of NC's citizens and our democracy. Unfortunately, the NC General Assembly voted to override Governor Cooper's veto on 12/11, despite loud dissent from the gallery.

Check us out on Bluesky

HCFANC has decided to join Bluesky similar to other progressive organizations. Follow us on Bluesky @hcfanc.bsky.social