In addition to helping spread the word throughout New York about the need for single payer universal health care – everyone in, no one out - Dr. Coates is raising three children with his wife Lori. He is also active in the Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace, participating in weekly vigils against war in his suburban community.

“Ever since I was a medical student, I have been shocked by the injustice in our health system. We ought to start from the premise that everyone will have a right to comprehensive care. Any discussion of social policy should start from the facts. Unfortunately the mainstream discourse in the US is dominated by ideological solutions. The reality is that the US had a rather mediocre health care system form which millions of Americans are excluded. The US spends 1.5 to 2 mores than other countries on health care and have very little to show for it,” noted Coates.

“Single payer would deliver all necessary care for all individuals, lifelong, with no co-pays and no deductibles, through a system in which health care would be publicly financed but privately delivered. By eliminating private insurance, single payer would save an estimated $400 billion annually in health spending,” Coates stated.

Dr. Coates has been disappointed by the status of health care reform in Congress.

“If the goals are health care for all and reduced costs of care, the measures being prepared in Congress will not reform the health system. Instead they amount to a massive taxpayer subsidy for the private health insurance industry,” noted Coates.

Coates is skeptical that the so-called public option is a way to health care for all.

“The “public option” refers to an idea that people and employers should be allowed to purchase insurance from a public program along the lines of Medicare,” he said. Proponents believe this would pressure the entire insurance market to reform itself. “But the public option amounts to a moral posture, not a workable reform,” Coates added. “Single payer would eliminate the insurance industry from health care; a “public option” cannot. A “public option” won’t liberate the resources squandered by the private insurance companies. Instead, it adds duplicative waste in administrative overhead to the system,” said Coates.

Coates saluted the work of Hunger Action. “We all benefit when anyone has the courage to confront the human dimensions, the real issues of how public policy impacts poverty and hunger. For an organization to do so, year after year, for over a quarter century, with great consistency and courage, is significant achievement, a lasting contribution to the effort to make our world a better place to live.”

Past "Faces"

Rick Worboys - EMPOWER

Craig Murphey, Community Organizer for Cathedral Community Cares (CCC) and West Harlem Action Network Against Poverty (WHANP)

Kathy Goldman, the founding director of Community Food Resource Center (now FoodChange)
Bill Ayres of World Hunger Year
Betsy Gotbaum NYC Public Advocate read >

Mark Quandt & the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York

Sr. Teresa Fitzgerald, Executive Director of Hour Children

Chelsea Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Berenice Katzen Cohen, Hunger Action NYS

University Settlement

Jan Jamroz, Catholic Charities of Long Island

Ed Fowler, Neighbors Together (Brooklyn)

Jon Greenbaum, Metro Justice (Rochester)

Br. Michael Harlan, Siena College-Franciscan Center for Service & Advocacy (Albany)

WELFARE MADE A DIFFERENCE- INVESTING IN PEOPLE TO END POVERTY

These are the stories of real people from across New York State who have struggled to move out of poverty with the help of welfare. Many of these individuals are Hunger Action Network members, including Board members. Their experiences, told in their own words, provide evidence of what really helps families and individuals. The Welfare Made A Difference National Campaign seeks to educate the public on the virtues of a fair, supportive social welfare system and the harmful impacts of punitive welfare policies.

Investing in people can make a difference in their lives.

Investing in people is money well spent.

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