What we've been up to lately...

HCJNC Founder Dr. Jessica Schorr Saxe, Director Lori Tiberio and her partner worked the huge crowds at Charlotte's  2023 Pride Festival and Parade in August. Despite the heat and humidity, we signed up over 350 new HCJNC member advocates for Medicare for All.

On August 10 we hosted around 40 folks for a PNHP membership and fundraising party at the lovely home of Director Susan Rucker. The delicious food represented countries that have universal healthcare systems. We raised over $7500 and gained several new PNHP members. HCJ Legislative Committee Chair Doug Robinson, MD speaks to the group about the need to strengthen PNHP for more effective Medicare for All advocacy.

On April 18 we hosted a showing of the new movie about Hospitals, produced by the same folks who brought us Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping Point. These and other great features about our healthcare system and the need to improve it are available at https://fixithealthcare.com.

On a trip to Washington, DC, HCJ Chair George Bohmfalk met with Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff to discuss the Senate Medicare for All Bill, S.1655. 

In March, several of our Directors shared information about Medicare for All with students, faculty, and administration of Charlotte's HBCU, Johnson C Smith University. Here are JCSU President Armbrister and HCJ Board member Royce Wolfe.

HHS Secy. Becerra visited Charlotte In February to publicize the healthcare benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act. HCJNC Chair Dr. Bohmfalk and immediate past-Chair Dr. Saxe spoke with him about the problems with Medicare Advantage and the ACO/REACH program. They also visited with Reps. Alma Adams & Jeff Jackson.

Dr. Bohmfalk, a retired neurosurgeon and former member of the Texas Assn. of Neurological Surgeons, spoke about Medicare for All at their annual meeting in Houston on Mar 5, 2022. An audience poll showed that 25% of the attendees support MFA, a much higher number than expected in this surgical subspecialty group.

Drs. Saxe & Bohmfalk made virtual presentations on “The Pandemic, Health Inequities and Reckoning with Racism,” with overviews of Medicare for All and how it might mitigate those inequities. In January they spoke to the Charlotte Mecklenburg League of Women Voters. In June they addressed the staff of the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and Atrium Hospital System Pediatric Residents.

On Feb 10 Board members Royce Wolfe, Jessica Saxe & George Bohmfalk had a productive discussion with Rep. Adams, her healthcare legislative aide, and Charlotte  office director. Rep. Adams has agreed to be an original cosponsor of the new Medicare for All bill to be introduced soon. We encouraged her also to support other healthcare bills and to mention her support on her website.

On Nov 12, Dr. Don Berwick, former CMS Director in the Obama administration, gave a Zoom presentation on health disparities, sponsored by the Greater Charlotte Healthcare Executives Group.

On July 21 Drs. Saxe and Pressly Gilbert spoke via Zoom to 100 members of the Charlotte Rotary Club on how  Medicare for All could have helped with the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 6, Dr. George Bohmfalk gave a Medicare for All presentation via Zoom to members of the Duke Medical School's Students for a National Health Program chapter. We're all locked down but still happy to share how Medicare for All can solve so many problems.