‘If You’re Not Gonna Protect Our Healthcare, We’re Gonna Make Sure Someone Gets Elected That Does,’ Marianne Pizzitola Says
NYCOPSR President Marianne Pizzitola leads a rally outside City Hall against the Medicare Advantage push. Photo/Joe Maniscalco
By Bob Hennelly
On this episode of We Decide: America at the Crossroads with Jenna Flanagan, we speak with Marianne Pizzitola, retired FDNY/EMT and president of the New York City Organization of Public Service Retirees and Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works who discuss the growing national anxiety about the privatization of Medicare through profit-driven Medicare Advantage plans.
“A large portion America is in these Medicare Advantage plans—it’s not because they choose them—it’s because there is a process that allows them to be auto-enrolled into them, and this is happening nationwide,” Pizzitola says.
The retired first responder also has a message for any candidate hoping to gain office or keep their seat in New York.
We also hear from Larry Goldbetter, president of the National Writers Union since 2008. Just this past weekend, the NWU convened a national leadership conference in lower Manhattan to chart their course of action in the Trump redux.
Ursula Ruedenberg of the Pacifica Affiliate Network, also brings us post-election reports from several of our affiliate stations around the country.
We finish up with an in depth conversation with Liz Perlman, longtime executive director of California’s AFSCME Local 3299, which represents 35-thousand healthcare workers at the University of California Health which includes a vast network of 12 hospitals and 11,000 physicians.
Local 3299 has announced a two-day unfair labor practice strike this week to protest management’s outrageously unlawful labor practices including having their negotiating team actually show up without any authority to engage in any real bargaining.
Listen to the entire show below:
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