A recent press release from the California Nurses Association announced that Geri Jenkins, RN, will testify to Congress in the first official public hearing on single-payer healthcare reform. Jenkins, the co-president of the 86,000-strong California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, plans to speak on our country's patient care crisis, supporting a single-payer system.
Jenkins will discuss why the CNA/NNOC feels this system best meets the healthcare reform goals identified by President Obama.
The hearing, entitled ?Exploring the Single-Payer Healthcare Option,? will convene June 10, 10:30am at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. This first, official, public hearing follows weeks of activism proposing a single-payer system in the U.S. Both rallies and protests by single-payer proponents have occurred in over 50 U.S. cities. This, of course, includes Washington D.C., which has seen activism at the Senate Finance Committee, and White House forums and house parties.
In an optimistic tone, the CNA reported warm comments by Jenkins for Rep. George Miller, chairman of HELP, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and Labor. Jenkins praised Miller as "a longtime champion of patients, nurses, and American families. We are grateful the HELP subcommittee has convened this important hearing and provided a critically needed public airing of the best alternative for repairing our healthcare system."