Greetings,

As the Temperature Rises...

After what seemed like months of rain, the sun is shining, the temperature is rapidly rising, and things are literally and figuratively heating up.  It has been a hectic and rewarding couple of months since the General Assembly Session ended, and the next months should provide progress on many fronts as well.

As you all know the Medicaid Expansion that began last July 1 has kept us very busy.  As of a couple of days ago over 40,000 Marylanders have been enrolled!  This is fantastic success, especially as the State predicted that over the first year only 25,000 people would enroll.  The state's children's health insurance program enrollment is up over 30% for the year as well showing that all the studies are right - when you get the parents enrolled the kids follow.  This is truly great news and it is the fruits of all of your hard work.  We thank all of you again as well as Governor Martin O'Malley's leadership on this issue. 

So, if you know people that you think might be eligible send them our way.  We would love to find as many people as possible and get them signed up.  You might remember that we had great triumphs finding folks through a media campaign with the Baltimore Ravens and Governor O'Malley.  We hope to have some news for you shortly that will build upon those successes and take similar outreach to more parts of the state.  Stay tuned!

Beyond Medicaid Expansion

It has been a hectic 7 months since we publicly released our updated Health Care for All! Proposal, and even with the busy legislative session right in the middle of that timing, the coalition supporting the revised plan is exploding.  In those few short months we now have nearly 750 organizational endorsers, including over 250 businesses.  This new coalition knows that we very much need health care for all Marylanders now, and are willing to fight for it. 

This coalition is very broad and includes such organizations as Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis to Naylor Hardware in Garrett County.  It includes the Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO to the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce.  It has barbershops, law firms, community centers, physician's offices, labor unions, faith groups of all denominations, nail salons, consulting firms, student groups, democratic clubs, etc.  Let's just say it's diverse....  It's growing every day and if your group has not had us out, get in touch with us today (410 235 9000).  We want to make this the strongest coalition Maryland has ever seen, so please have us out to your group, or refer us to folks you might know.  If you want to get on board now click here, fill out the resolution, and get it back to us as soon as you can. 

It's been a very exciting process and within that short amount of time we have already surpassed the amount of groups we had in a coalition to get the Medicaid Expansion enrolled - in about a quarter of the time!  This really has been humbling and we cannot thank all of you that got in early.  If you would like to see a current list of endorsers send an email to info@healthcareforall.com, and I will get you an up to date list, as the number grows each day.

Recent Media Coverage

We have had some great media coverage in the past week that we wanted to pass along to everyone.  Last Wednesday we had a press conference at our office in Baltimore to announce that three chambers of commerce have endorsed our Health Care for All proposal.  To read a story from the Baltimore Business Journal click here.  To watch a great report on the event from WJZ Channel 13 in Baltimore click here.  If you would like to see a couple of pictures from the event that were in the Baltimore Times click here and here.  To follow that event an OP/ED was published in the Sunday Baltimore Sun.  A great piece that emphasized why business should support our plan that can be read by clicking here.

Last week's event was extremely important, but we have events this week too that are crucial steps to the coalition's progress.  This Thursday (6/4/09) we will be releasing to the media some very important polling we commissioned with nationally respected Lake Research Partners about Marylanders attitudes towards our new plan.  We will be having two events, one in DC at Families USA at 10am, and another on Lawyer's Mall in Annapolis at 1pm.  Come on out, it will be an exciting announcement and a massive step forward towards our goal of Health Care for All!

Get Outside and Enjoy the Weather

What a whirlwind couple of months, and it is only going to get more exhilarating.  Enjoy the weather, spend time with friends and family and expect to hear from us soon.  As you all may know the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Mac Middleton along with House Health and Government Operations Committee Chairman Pete Hammen have let folks know that they will spend parts of the summer studying our proposed plan as well as a variety of other legislation to move towards health care for everyone.  This is tremendous news and we will be at the table to make sure that together we can accomplish our common goal of Health Care for All Marylanders.  Thanks for all you do, and do not hesitate to get in touch with us with any question, concern, or new resolutions!

Matt, Vinny, Rosanna, Suzanne, Brooke, Caitlin, and all of our wonderful consultants and volunteers