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2011 was a historic year for the growing human rights movement in the United States.
After many years of grassroots organizing by the Healthcare is a Human Right campaign,
Vermont became the first state in the country
to enact a law for a universal, publicly financed healthcare system
based on human rights principles.
This was a huge breakthrough and can be seen as a model
for how to use grassroots power to demand our human rights.
In 2008, the Vermont Workers’ Center launched the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign
as a radical new response
to the ongoing healthcare crisis in Vermont.
It began with one-on-one conversations and surveys of Vermonters across the state
about their healthcare needs.
Out of these conversations,
it was clear that thousands of people were needlessly suffering and dying
because Vermonters were denied their human right to healthcare.
My name is Michael Marcotte.
I’ve been without health insurance for 20 years.
I do not want to have to justify to insurance companies
that I want better quality of life
and have to tell them, or to have them tell me, it's too expensive.
I've gone for an MRI, which I debated on for so long,
and have the bill for that, and the bill for this and that
and a whole bunch of other things sitting on my kitchen table at home.
What I find so frustrating about my job
is that probably at least 50% of the patients that I take care of
never should have ended up in the ICU.
I can't afford treatment if it is serious.
If I go and find out that this is cancer, I've essentially bankrupted my family.
On the other hand if I don’t go get treatment and it’s cancer,
I've left them without a dad.
As a self-employed carpenter struggling to make ends meet,
for many years I had to choose between being homeless or having health insurance.
I can’t...I just can’t afford them.
You do the math, and the money's just not there.
It’s hard enough emotionally, physically, living with pain everyday
without having to worry about how I’m going to get out of debt.
I am not a price tag.
The value of my life is not a tax burden.
They come in for infections that they noticed, possibly, a week or two before
but delay care because they already have overwhelming medical bills.
I do not want to have to choose between buying medicine and buying groceries.
I’ve seen people with diabetes, even well-managed diabetes,
that ignore small ulcers on their feet that are easily treatable
but they can’t get treatment for because they don't have insurance,
and they end up losing their foot, or sometimes their entire leg.
Tens of thousands of people are suffering, dying, and living in fear needlessly every year.
I’m here because this is my reality, this is what I deal with,
and I’m here for everyone else who’s dealing with it too.
The movement grew, and many more stood up
and joined in the fight for the human right to healthcare.
The Campaign held hearings across the state,
giving people the chance to speak up about their healthcare struggles.
We held workshops and developed strong leaders
who helped to form organizing committees in every county of the state.
These leaders began to go out and talk with their friends, families, and neighbors to grow the campaign.
Because the Health Care is a Human Right Campaign is focused on human rights,
human beings and their voices are at the center of the struggle.
The campaign is centered around five key principles,
which give us a clear framework to guide our campaign.
They are: universality, equity, accoutability, transparency, and participation.
Everybody must be covered, nobody left out.
Health care resources and services must be distributed according to people’s needs,
as opposed to payment, privilege, or any other factor.
There must be means of holding government accountable
for failing to meet human rights standards.
Government must be open with regard to information and decision-making processes.
The governments engage people and support their participation
in decisions about how their human rights are to be ensured.
A health care system that satisfies these principles
is the responsibility of government to ensure.
At the crux of our campaign is the belief that since healthcare is a human right,
it must no longer be sold as a commodity,
but must instead be a public good for all.
After growing the Campaign in every corner of the state and engaging with thousands of Vermonters,
on May 1st, 2009, the campaign held the largest weekday rally
at the state House that Vermont had ever seen.
Building on the international significance of May 1st in struggles for justice,
the 2009 rally started the tradition of the May 1st Healthcare Is a Human Right rallies,
which have continued to grow every year since.
Carrying this momentum forward,
the Campaign then turned its focus towards the state House.
In the fall of 2009, organizing committees held People’s Forums all across the state,
where legislators came to listen to their constituents’ experiences with the healthcare system,
and to learn about the human rights principles for healthcare.
At the end of each forum, legislators were asked whether they agreed that healthcare was a human right,
and almost all of them did and pledged their support.
Now the Campaign was strong enough to put pressure on the state legislature.
At the start of the 2010 legislative session,
campaign members packed the state House and delivered thousands of postcards to legislators
signed by Vermonters demanding their human right to healthcare.
In order to maintain a constant presence at the state House
the Campaign launched the People’s Team.
The People’s Team is the Campaign’s answer to professional lobbyists.
The team helps hold legislators accountable by sitting in committee meetings
and reporting back to the Campaign’s organizing committees on what is happening in the state House.
By the end of the 2010 legislative session,
the Campaign was mobilizing for the passage of Act 128.
This Act required Vermont to develop models for a new system that would make healthcare a public good,
based on the five central human rights principles.
On May 1st, 2010, over a thousand Vermonters converged at the state House
to call for the passage of Act 128 and a few weeks later, the Act was passed and signed into law.
At the beginning of the 2011 legislative session,
Campaign members turned out in full force again with thousands of petitions,
and ready to continue the fight for a universal healthcare bill.
This strategy paid off:
after reviewing three models, Governor Shumlin introduced a bill
that outlined a universal, publicly financed healthcare system for Vermont, called Green Mountain Care.
As the bill made its way through the state House,
the Campaign fought hard against attempts to water it down.
The Campaign made sure that several important human rights principles made it into the bill,
including the principle of equity in financing,
public participation in decision-making,
and the definition of healthcare as a public good.
With these principles in place,
Vermonters would be able to hold the government accountable
during the long transition toward the new system.
But right as the bill came to a final vote,
two Senators attached a discriminatory amendment to the bill,
which excluded undocumented Vermonters from Green Mountain Care
The Campaign was told by lawmakers
that there was, quote, “a zero percent chance” of removing this amendment.
It was clear to everyone in the HCHR Campaign that universal means everyone!
Even though the Campaign only had a couple of days to mobilize,
legislators heard Vermonters’ outrage immediately
through phone calls, emails and in-person meetings.
The annual May 1st rally drew huge crowds to the state House,
standing in solidarity with the immigrant community.
As a direct result of these actions,
the amendment was removed within a matter of days.
In May of 2011, Act 48 was finally passed and signed into law,
which made Vermont the first state in the nation
to commit to creating a universal and publicly financed healthcare system.
In this moment it was clear
that the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign had been able to change
what was considered politically possible
through organizing thousands of people to demand their rights.
The HCHR campaign has created a new model
for building grassroots power to achieve fundamental policy change.
The lessons from this struggle
are already inspiring future campaigns in Vermont and elsewhere in the United States.
In building this momentum, campaign leaders have gone on tours across the country,
joining forces with other people’s movements
and spreading the word about the power of claiming our human rights.
The healthcare struggle is far from over,
and insurance companies are constantly trying to derail the path toward universal healthcare.
Important decisions still need to be made:
will the new healthcare system really be financed in an equitable way?
Will Vermonters really all get access
to all the services needed to stay healthy?
Insurance companies and big business employers
are working hard to prevent universal healthcare from ever happening
through astroturf groups and scare tactics.
But Vermonters are ready to continue fighting!
The Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign also understands
that healthcare is not an issue that stands alone.
Too many people are struggling to meet their fundamental needs
of housing, food, education, good jobs, social security and a healthy environment.
All of these are our human rights.
With this in mind, the Vermont Workers’ Center has embarked
on an ambitious new campaign called Put People First!
This campaign will bring together different communities all across the state
to ensure that all our human rights are met.
In addition to the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign,
Put People First also includes the People’s Budget Campaign.
We need a People’s Budget that puts human rights
and the fundamental needs of our communities first,
and raises and spends revenue to ensure that every person’s human rights are met.
Vermont has the resources to meet everyone’s needs!
Join us in our fight for a universal and equitably financed healthcare system,
and for a government that puts people and the planet first.
Went down to the people's house,
and I took back what was stolen from me.
I took back, took back my dignity.
I took back, took back my democracy.
And now it's under my feet...what!
Under my feet...what!
Under my feet...what!
Under my feet...
Ain't nobody gonna walk all over me...
Well I went down to the people's house
and I took back what was stolen from me
I took back, took back my dignity...
I took back, took back my humanity...
And now it's under my feet, what!
Under my feet, what!
Under my feet, what!
Under my feet...
Ain't nobody gonna walk all over me.
Go to www.workerscenter.org to find out how to get involved.