upcoming

Dead Man’s Chest

What:

If you wonder how national health reform will affect you and don’t want to read 2000 pages of dry legislation, come to Los Bagels Arcata on Sunday August 1 at 3 pm for an open air performance of Dead Man’s Chest. This Entertaining musical comedy using puppets for adults to explain in plain terms what average Californians will pay and get for health coverage when our state insurance exchange opens for business in 2014. Dead Man’s Chest tells the story of a pirate crew that goes into the health insurance business and the people who buy policies from them. The plot and characters are imaginative, but the information about health reform is factual and audience members will get a flier from which they can determine their family’s monthly premium and level of coverage.

The cast of Dead Man’s Chest are members of Health Care for All, a group that advocates for a state single payer system. The doctor and nurse puppeteers maintain that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in March will not make health care affordable or protect families from medical bankruptcy. The Act is projected to provide coverage for only half of California’s uninsured. Fifty percent of the newly covered will enroll in Medi-Cal at a projected annual cost to the state of two to 3 billion dollars. The rest will buy into private plans which leave many underinsured. The law also provides financial incentives for employers to drop health benefits and discriminates against low income employees of businesses that do offer insurance.

One of the puppeteers, Dr Corinne Frugoni, says “Single payer is an affordable alternative to for-profit insurance which would give patients their choice of private doctors and hospitals and guarantee health care for all. It would also create savings for state and local governments at a time when we really need them.” Nurse Susan Brinton, adds “Having insurance doesn’t always mean you can get healthcare. It’s hard to get a doctor in this community because many don’t accept certain kinds of insurance, and there are a lot of people who won’t go to the doctor or fill a prescription if they have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket before their insurance kicks in. Single payer would eliminate deductibles and co-pays.”

“People are sick of hearing about health reform and just want to wait and see what happens in 2014” says Dr Wendy Ring, the author of Dead Man’s Chest, “but after studying the law and its projected impact on our state, I think that would be a big mistake. We’re out educating people because we’re building a social movement to fight for health care as a basic human right. What we’re getting from national reform is a promise of as much health care as you can buy and that is the worst kind of rationing. If you want to know who will benefit, look at the jump in value of insurance stocks after the Act was passed. Private insurance is a cross between a treasure chest and a roach motel. Our money goes in but affordable health care doesn’t come out. We can do better for the people of California.” The California legislature has passed single payer bills twice, which were vetoed by the governor, and is expected to pass another by the end of summer.

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