Healthcare-Now of Maryland Represented at the Fund Our Communities Mini-conference

March 31, 2011

Representatives from Healthcare-Now of Maryland, Ken Sandin, Ray Sullivan and Margaret Flowers, attended the Fund Our Communities mini-conference on March 26th in Bethesda, Over 50 people representing the 37 organizations which have joined the coalition spent the morning listening to speakers and then breaking into smaller groups in order to decide how to move forward to build a strong voice in Maryland that demands that we bring our war dollars home to fund domestic needs. The Fund Our Communities coalition is part of the New Priorities Project, a growing nationwide campaign.

Speakers included Miriam Pemberton of the Institute for Policy Studies who is working with Congressman Barney Frank to cut military spending by 25%; Gino Renne, President of UFCW 1994 MCGEO; Elbridge James of the NAACP; Jeff McManus of Chesapeake Climate Action Network; Dr. Flowers; Lindolfo Carballo of CASA de Maryland; Fred Mason, President of the AFL-CIO of MD and DC and Medea Benjamin of Code Pink.

Points noted about health care in Maryland include:

There are nearly 800,000 uninsured people in our state.
The underfunding of developmental disability supports and services has led to placing 3,642 Marylanders on waiting lists to receive state services which they depend on to live a full life.
Three state facilities and residential centers that serve mentally ill and developmentally disabled individuals have closed since 2007, and capacity at other facilities has been reduced.
The proposed budget for FY 2012 includes a $5.9 million reduction in addiction funding compared to FY 2009 while there are currently 42,000 untreated people in Baltimore alone.
Maryland’s Medicaid expansion has been halted.
The last two phases of a three-phase initiative to address Maryland’s dental crisis have been halted.
The proposed FY 2012 budget includes a $17 million reduction in provider payments for Medicaid and $15 million in unspecified cuts which means those with Medicaid will face greater difficulties finding care.

The mini-conference was a success. The FOC Coalition now has seed funding, a steering committee and a commitment to plan actions quickly such as resolutions to city and county councils, teach-ins and rallies.

Healthcare-Now of MD looks forward to working with the coalition to bring our war dollars home and fund domestic needs such as a universal single-payer health care system for the state of Maryland. We will keep you informed.

Written by Healthcare-NOW! of Maryland · Filed Under Updates