1. Organizing for Health Care Reform at the State Level
The Vermont Way

2. How to Begin Find your allies Get to know the political landscape
Get referrals- who are the powerful?

3. Political Reform
Educational phase
-Build your base
Political phase

4. The 80/20 rule Who are the influential folks ? Business
Health professionals
The religious community
School board and other town officials
Labor
Retirees
The 80/20 rule is use 20% of your effort to get 80% of the result. Example- influencing those who can influence others. Rotary clubs are a perfect use of the 80/20 rule. You need not have to plan or organize the event and the folks in the audience have a lot of influence with their legislators.

5. How to talk to business
It’s costing them big bucks and they need to know why
Lack of a system and ability to control costs
It’s not because of individuals “abusing” healthcare
We are already paying the whole bill
Affects their competitiveness
It’s not going to get any better
Keep in mind - they don’t trust the govt.

6. Approach to these folks
One on one is best
Ask for other contacts
Ask for advice
Give factual information and know your stuff
Keep an open mind- we can learn from others

7. Medical Community They are fed up
They will have more freedom under a universal health care system
We don’t need to give up our “freedom of prescription”
Patients can have choice
They need to know it isn’t going to get better without radical change

8. Labor
Appeal to their self interest-they don’t want to give up benefits or increase their cost sharing so that others can have health care
(truth is, they already are)
The rest of the discussion is the same as for business
Emphasize, it will only get worse for them

9. Other opportunities Medical conferences Rotaries Town meetings
School board meetings
House parties
Use the 80/20 rule-go to meetings that are already organized

10. The Message Appeal to people’s self interest
Avoid the moral high ground being your only approach
Common ground: funding the health care services and then giving everyone access to them
This is not just an issue of coverage- it is also one of cost containment and limits
We need a health care system

11. Essential Features of a Universal Health Care System
Everyone Included
Public Financing
Public Stewardship
Global Budget
Public Accountability
The investment model- a true health care system has five common features. They cover everyone, pay for care with public financing, within a global budget which I will explain later. They have a govt. agency that oversees the budgeting process and ensures that care is paid for and the agency is publicly accountable when things go wrong.

12. Presentations
Different groups need different emphasis but keep 3-4 prevailing concepts in each
Most of health care is a shared service with mostly fixed costs (the sick keep the bed warm for you)
It is expensive and used by very few at any one time
If we want it there for ourselves we have to pay for those using it now by spreading the cost
We are already paying the whole bill one way or another anyway(business, employees, taxpayers and individuals)
*Things will only get worse without radical reform

13. What I have learned Know the political landscape All politics is local
Sign people up every chance you get
Use the 80/20 rule as much as possible
Keep your friends but court your enemies
Passion , persistence and a willingness to change will rule the day
In the end you still need luck
The 80/20 rule is use 20% of your effort to get 80% of the result. Example- influencing those who can influence others. Rotary clubs are a perfect use of the 80/20 rule. You need not have to plan or organize the event and the folks in the audience have a lot of influence with their legislators.

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