ACTION ALERT for ALL CALIFORNIA SPYR SUPPORTERS - plz do this!

Forwarded from Art Persyko of SinglePayerNow:

SPN media alert: from the SF Chronicle--proposed 2012 CA ballot measure calls for public option & cut in rates;  & 1 in 10 employers predicted to drop health coverage

SPN Media Alert:  Good morning!  Today's SF Chronicle has front page news of a ballot initiative proposed for the 2012 California ballot that calls for a public option and a cut in health insurance rates;  and another story predicting 10% of employers will drop employee health coverage after 2014.  Both of these articles give single payer advocates a great opportunity to send letters to the editor of the SF Chronicle about the advantages of single payer in our state or nationally, in response.  For more information about SF Chronicle letters to the editor submissions, please see the information at the bottom of this email.  Thank you!   (Note:  If anyone on this email list wants to provide some feedback about these occasional SPN media alerts and/or wants to make a request to stop receiving them, please feel free to respond accordingly.  Thank you!)  -Art
Today's (Thursday, August 25, 2011) SF Chronicle front page (page A1) story (below the fold under the category "Health Care"):  "Consumer group seeks public plan, rate cuts";  online title:  "Health care measure seeks public option, rollbacks", by Carla Marinucci,Victoria Colliver, Thursday, August 25, 2011 (from:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/24/MNP31KRCSA.DTL#ixzz1W3vrQehj)

excerpt:

a leading California consumer rights group wants to shift the debate by offering a groundbreaking state ballot measure calling for a public option, a 20 percent rate rollback and tough oversight of premiums.  The initiative, aimed at California's November 2012 ballot, is being organized by Consumer Watchdog, the Santa Monica group...  News of the Consumer Advocate ballot measure comes as a critical hearing on a bill to regulate health insurance rates is scheduled today in the state Senate Appropriations Committee.  Assembly Bill 52, by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, would allow the state insurance commissioner or the head of the Department of Managed Health Care - the two agencies that regulate health insurance - to reject or modify proposed rate increases if they are deemed to be excessive...

Also in today's SF Chronicle, "1 in 10 employers expected to halt health coverage", page A5.

excerpt:

Almost 1 of every 10 midsized or big employers expects to stop offering health coverage to workers after insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014 as part of President Obama's health care overhaul, according to a survey by a major benefits consultant.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/24/MNQU1KRH95.DTL#ixzz1W3yN7Gpo

Letters to the editor of the SF Chronicle information:

The Chronicle prefers letters be sent to them on their online form:http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1                                                                                                      SF Chronicle Letters to the Editor guidelines (from http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/):
Please limit your letters to 200 or fewer words ... shorter letters have a better chance of being selected for publication.
*    The editor prefers e-mail. The address is letters@sfchronicle.com
(Please paste the text into the e-mail; do not send attachments.  Virus-detecting software will delete e-mail with attachments.)
*    Or Fax: (415) 543-7708.
*    Postal-mail is OK, too: Letters to the Editor, 901 Mission St.,San Francisco, CA 94103