The demand for information on the Trump/Biden plans to privatize Medicare was so great that the rush to join the webinar, hosted by PNHP on 23 May, crashed their site. I announced the webinar to our readers in my last article entitled, “Seattle City Council Reacts To Medicare Privatization.” Luckily, viewers were able to continue watching on YouTube.
After the webinar, I asked Kaytlin Gilbert, PNHP National Organizer, if they had any idea how many people attempted to sign in to the webinar on the PNHP site. I will report her answer at a later date. As of this article's publication, however, the YouTube video view-counter has tallied about 2,300 views of the webinar, and it continues ticking up every minute.
Below is the text of an email (with live links) sent the following day, May 24, by Kaytlin Gilbert, :
May 24, 2022
Dear Richard,
Thanks to everyone who participated in yesterday’s incredible “Turning up the Heat on Direct Contracting and REACH” event, where seniors, physicians, and Congresswomen Pramila Jayapal and Katie Porter inspired us to take action to keep Wall Street out of Medicare.
Overwhelming demand for this event caused our REACH website to temporarily crash, so if you were unable to tune in live, please watch and share the recording on YouTube, HERE.
The big takeaway from yesterday’s event? We will never kick profiteers out of Medicare unless we ALL take action, and soon! Here are FOUR actions you can take this week to protect Medicare. Each step only takes a few minutes, so let’s get to work:
• Call President Biden at (202) 456-1111 and demand he use executive action to end Direct Contracting and REACH today. Use this SAMPLE SCRIPT to get started. Note that the White House switchboard is only open from 11 am to 3 pm ET on Tuesdays through Thursdays.
• Call your U.S. representative and senators using the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and demand they join the fight against Direct Contracting and REACH. Use this SAMPLE SCRIPT to get started.
• Sign and share our petition to end Direct Contracting and REACH at ProtectMedicare.net/REACHPetition.
• Share your Medicare Direct Contracting or Medicare Advantage story (including your DCE enrollment letter) using this FORM. Learn more about sharing your story HERE.
Can you find a few minutes today to take action? The future of Medicare depends on it.
With gratitude,
Kaytlin Gilbert
PNHP National Organizer
P.S. The ProtectMedicare.net website is back online! Be sure to visit (and share) the site for additional action steps and the latest info about Medicare profiteering.
Gilbert's email is clear in its call to action. For Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries this is literally a life-threatening situation. Watch the video! Then do whatever you have to do! Go ahead and do your best Howard Beale! Open the window and yell out, "I am as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore! I am a human being, dammit, and my life has value….” Because if you do not, Trump and Biden will have destroyed one of the greatest programs created to pay for health care that this country has ever seen.
