Join the Healthcare Committee!

Mission Statement:

The DSA-LA Healthcare Committee seeks to achieve a socialist health care system, clear from profit motives, as a human/moral right for all. In the immediate future, our committee advocates for a single-payer distribution system covering all residents of California, funded through progressive taxation for all medically necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, emergency room, vision, dental, mental health, long and short-term care, reproductive care and any other indispensable health requirement. Medical supply and prescription drug costs would be better controlled and available to anyone in need. Patients would gain choice of provider and facility while medical practitioners would establish autonomy over care for patients. We seek to focus on attaining this systemic goal at both the local and federal levels.

We endorse any reforms that challenge existing frameworks designed to benefit the pharmaceutical and/or insurance industry at the expense of any person’s health, income and/or livelihood. To achieve this, we will work in coalition with a broad spectrum of the working class – in particular: healthcare workers, rank and file members of labor unions (along with leaders when appropriate). In addition, we will fight for all people under current systems who are faced with negative, disproportionate health outcomes – including, but not limited to: communities of color, womxn, LGBTQ+ people, undocumented immigrants and low income individuals/families. By building a people’s/worker’s movement fighting in solidarity toward single-payer health care, we can advocate for and work toward implementation of a distribution system that is accessible to everyone, more effective and focused on the ethics of public care as opposed to private profit.

Goals:

  1. CANVASSING: Establish twice monthly canvasses and canvass trainings for members to be effective in explaining and building community engagement around single-payer health care by the end of 2017. We aim to canvass every state senate/assembly district in Los Angeles county, engaging at least 1000 community members by June 2018. This will allow us to build a movement around local single-payer health care initiatives, such as SB-562, the “Healthy California bill.” In addition, we will be recruiting new members through each canvass outreach.
  2. Designate liaisons and create avenues of communication for local coalition partners by the end of 2017 (e.g. The Healthy California Campaign, Physicians for a National Health Program – ‘PNHP,’ American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today – ‘ADAPT.’)  
  3. Consolidate current committee membership lists and standardize processes for mobilizing one third of DSA Los Angeles membership by June 2018.
  4. Onboard new members with educational socialist healthcare reading-groups and talks by leading health professionals who are in favor of single-payer/universal coverage.

Join the Healthcare Committee!