Single payer/universal health regional one-day conferences

The 218th General Assembly (2008) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted for the provision of a limited amount of financial support to conduct one-day regional conferences on single payer/universal healthcare reform.

The action reads that the 218th General Assembly (2008) will:

1. Endorse in principle the provision of single-payer universal health care reform in which health care services are privately provided and publicly financed.
2. Direct the General Assembly Mission Council through appropriate offices including the National Health Ministries, the Washington Office, and the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA), to advocate for, educate about and otherwise pursue the goal of obtaining legislation that enacts single-payer, universal national health insurance as the program that best responds to the moral imperative of the gospel; monitoring progress toward this goal and reporting back to the next two General Assemblies (2010 and 2012).
3. Direct the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly to send a copy of this resolution to the appropriate committee chairs of the U.S. Congress and to the Washington and United Nations offices of the PC(USA).
4. Direct that $25,000 from the Mission budget of the PC(USA) be sent to the PACT Network of PHEWA for the purpose of holding ten regional, one-day seminars supporting single payer universal healthcare reform, moneys to be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Organizations seeking to host a conference will:

1. Commit to form a diverse coalition to plan the regional seminar that includes a Presbyterian presence (local congregations/presbyteries/synods) and other stakeholders in the single payer/universal healthcare arena.
2. Present an organizational plan, including proposed speakers, agenda, timeline and budget to the Presbyterian Association for Community Transformation (PACT), the PC(USA) entity sponsoring the regional seminars. Submit to Susan Stack by email.
3. Present a brief rationale for why your location is best suited for this regional seminar, i.e., what is the community and political impact? How will your event lead to participant action?
4. Secure the resources necessary to adequately promote and implement the plan to best ensure participant action following the regional seminar.
5. Submit a report following the regional seminar confirming the agenda, number of attendees and contact information (particularly email addresses), action items adopted, and suggestions for other regional seminar sponsors to consider. Please use an Excel file for contact information.

Presbyterians for Community Transformation (PACT) will:

1. Provide $2,000 toward the implementation of the regional conference.
2. Provide consultation to your planning team and aid in identifying speakers and resources if requested.
3. Provide an on-site representative from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
4. Provide publicity through Presbyterian sources prior to the event and host a story upon completion of the event on the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA) Web site.