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A broad coalition of Chicagoans saw the birthday of Medicare
in the Summer of 1998 as just the right moment to call, again, for a national health insurance plan universal, comprehensive, encompassing all of
us.
The slogan that emerged from that event heralded a renewed national effort to join the rest of the human race,
especially in those countries whose economic and political systems resemble ours most, in accepting health care as a social responsibility of the state.
The slogan
is:
Everybody in! Nobody out!
Those four words are the briefest rebuttal to the remarkable array of nay-sayers who assure us daily that, even though we have committed $1.7 trillion dollars (a thousand billion dollars) annually to health
care in the USA. Even though we have a workforce and physical plant second to none, somehow the United States cannot afford to provide its citizens with this essential human right.
All signs point to the failure of the marketplace experiment in running the U.S. health care system and to our nation’s readiness to take another look, to seek a better way.
Everybody in! Nobody out!
is a superb start to the public debate. In Chicago a
nerve was touched, and the response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. We
believe the rest of the country also is ready to demand a fresh start.
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In April
of 2000 the website www.EverybodyInNobodyOut.org
(EINO for short) was launched by Dennis Lazof with the support of an Advisory
Board of experts from around the country. The predecessor
for that website in concept and general design came from the, now defunct,
DefendHealthCare.org
, which Dr. Lazof developed and maintained during its last 18 months of
operation. The launching of EINO was
necessitated in order to maintain an even-handed commitment to state UHC organizing
both with regard to geography and to the range of possible strategies.
Project EINO takes into account the influence the website has had on
supporting the growth of UHC organizing around the nation. The project intends to draw upon any resources vital to state UHC
organizing. The project exists to strengthen and extend all genuine UHC organizing
in the states.
All state groups working towards UHC and in agreement with the
three essential elements for UHC have been represented and vigorously encouraged. Any such
state organization not already having a website has been invited to have one designed, maintained and hosted free of charge by Project EINO with simple updating and modification by email.
Our formal relationship to the
individual state UHC organizations has evolved gradually over time. We
have now received recognition in some form from most of these organizations.
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Organizing for the Right to Health Care
In September of 2003 Project EINO launched a new website at www.RightToHealthCare.org following two months of work in developing the first web pages of information on the US legal status of this right. These original pages were largely based on work published by the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute ( www.mcli.org ) and in their book "HOW TO USE NEW CIVIL RIGHT LAWS".
The Right to Health Care website has grown extensively beyond those first few pages, with historical, philosophical, international background added along with additional legal documents. Work along the line of the "Right to Health Care" has reached beyond the material posted to the website.
A discussion group was started (a yahoo group) on the Right to Health Care CLICK HERE. A great deal of effort has gone into developing organizational contacts with other national and international organizations involved in human rights work.
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Here at ProjectEINO.org we aim to
assist in gathering support for our project. This website is organized for the
convenience of institutional donors and agencies in evaluating the Project as
it exists and as it is planned to develop.
We are very appreciative also of
individual donations, which up until April 2005, at least, have been our only
source of support. We are requesting individuals who would like to make
tax-deductible contributions to visit the page at our public website explaining
how to make such donations. CLICK
HERE We hope to soon establish our independent NonProfit status.
As explained on that page (linked above)
we are currently operating as a special project of the NC Committee to Defend
Health Care, an educational federally tax-exempt organization. We would
like to become independent, but that is not possible as long as we remain 99%
dependent on the funding from the shallow pockets of one modestly-incomed
couple. A grant of seed money, at least, would allow us secure operation
for the next several months and pursuit of our independent tax-exempt status.
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