2015 Single-Payer Strategy Conference

Friday, October 30 – Sunday, November 1
Chicago Hilton, 720 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL

The agenda below is still in-formation and subject to change! Check back at this page for agenda updates.

Agenda for Friday, October 30th

2:30PM-4:30PM – Registration at the Hilton (Hilton Lobby)
4:00PM-5:00PM – Single-payer rally targeting Blue Cross Blue Shield! (Download a map to the rally here. Meet at “The Bean” sculpture in Millennium Park at 4PM, March to Blue Cross Blue Shield, which is at 300 E. Randolph St. at 4:15PM)
6:00PM-7:00PM – Continued registration at the Hilton (Outside the Boulevard room, Hilton)
7:00PM-8:00PM – Reception with live music from labor singer Anne Feeney (Outside the Boulevard room, Hilton)
8:00PM-8:10PM – Welcome to Chicago from Alderwoman Susan Sadlowski Garza (Boulevard room, Hilton)
8:10PM-8:30PM – Keynote by Leo Gerard, President, United Steelworkers (Boulevard room, Hilton)
8:30-PM-9:00PM – Opening Plenary: Introduction & moderation by Jean Ross, National Nurses United. Respondents: Richard Gottfried, Chair of the NY State Assembly Health Committee; Claudia Fegan, MD, Physicians for a National Health Program. (Boulevard room, Hilton)

Agenda for Saturday, October 31st
(All in the Boulevard room, Hilton)

Plenary: A Winning Strategy for the Single-Payer Movement:
9:00AM-9:10AM – Welcome by Congressman Jim McDermott
9:10AM-9:25AM – Framing Questions for the Conference: Mark Dudzic, Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare; Donna Smith, Health Care for All Colorado.
9:25AM-9:45AM – Movement Action Planning for Single Payer Organizing: Benjamin Day, Healthcare-NOW!
9:45AM-10:00AM – The Strategic Moment: Michael Lighty, Director of Public Policy, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.
10:00AM-10:30AM – Audience Q&A.

10:30AM-10:45AM – BREAK

10:45AM-11:45AM – First block of workshops:

• Telling Your Healthcare Story – Facilitator: Benjamin Day, Healthcare-NOW!
• Workers Compensation & Healthcare Justice – Facilitator: Joel Shufro, NYCOSH
• New York: Beyond the Breakthrough – Facilitator: Gene Carroll, NYS AFL-CIO/Cornell Union Leadership Institute
• Winning Support from the Business Community – Facilitator: Chuck Pennacchio, Healthcare 4 All PA
• National Legislative Initiatives – Facilitator: Vijay Das, Public Citizen

11:55AM-12:55PM – Lunch (Served outside the Boulevard room, Hilton)

1:05PM-2:05PM – Second block of workshops:

• The Cadillac Tax & Attacks on Workers Healthcare – Facilitator: Jim McGee, Transit Employees Health and Welfare Plan
• Progress Report on State Single Payer Campaigns – Facilitator: Sonja Rotenberg, Illinois Single-Payer Coalition
• Advancing Single Payer During the Election Season – Facilitator: Rand Wilson, SEIU Local 888
• When Your Legislator Says No – Facilitator: Benjamin Day, Healthcare-NOW!
• 2 Lessons from the Most Successful Campaign in Modern History – Facilitator: Tom O’Brien, United Steelworkers

2:15PM-3:15PM – Third block of workshops:

• Organizing Students and Youth for Healthcare Justice – Facilitator: Troy Neves, United Students Against Sweatshops
• Healthcare is a Human Right Model – Facilitator: Healthcare Is a Human Right Collaborative
• Online Organizing for Single Payer Activists – Facilitator: Stephanie Nakajima, Healthcare-NOW!
• The ACA at 5 Years: Medicaid Expansion and Immigrant Inclusion – Facilitator: Martha Livingston, SUNY Old Westbury
• LGBT Access to Healthcare: An Issue for All Single Payer Activists – Facilitator: Donna Cartwright, Pride at Work

3:15PM-3:30PM – BREAK

3:30PM-4:20PM – Plenary: Getting Past the Finish Line: The Single-Payer Movements in Vermont and New York. Facilitator: Paul Song, Courage Campaign. Speakers: Keith Brunner, Vermont Workers Center; David Sterrett, Sterrett Law PLC; Annette Gaudino, PNHP NY Metro; Marva Wade, NYSNA. (Boulevard room, Hilton)
4:35PM-5:25PM – Plenary: Single-Payer and the Movements for Racial Equity and Immigrant Justice. Facilitator: Paul Song, Courage Campaign. Betzabel Estudillo, California Immigrant Policy Center; Living Hope Wheelchair Association, Texas. (Boulevard room, Hilton)
5:25PM-5:30PM – Film trailer for “FixIt: Healthcare at the Tipping Point” – a documentary on business & the single-payer movement (Boulevard room, Hilton)

5:30PM-7:00PM – Full showing of “FixIt: Healthcare at the Tipping Point” documentary – Q&A with filmmakers and discussion of outreach and organizing. (Boulevard room, Hilton)

Agenda for Sunday, November 1st
(All in the Boulevard room, Hilton)

9:00AM-10:30AM – Small Group Strategy Sessions: Answering the Framing Questions for a Winning Strategy. Facilitator: John Lozier, National Healthcare for the Homeless Council.
10:30AM-11:00AM – Closing plenary: Donna Smith and Sonja Rotenberg, One Payer States; Mark Dudzic, Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare; Benjamin Day, Healthcare-NOW.