Thousands of people have taken a ticket for gender equity in health care. (We're currently at 2,689 people in line.)

Want to play an even bigger role in fighting insurance company discrimination against women?

We rigged our toll-free phone line to direct calls to male members of Congress. That's right - the men in Congress need to hear from us about how women are routinely discriminated against by insurance companies. Let's educate them on what women are facing every day: higher premiums, less coverage, and battles with insurers over "pre-existing conditions" like pregnancy and c-sections.

Call 1-866-311-3405 and tell them it's time to deliver on health insurance reform.

Let's educate male members of Congress on how women are unfairly discriminated against by health insurers. Call toll-free at 1-866-311-3405. Use this form to report back on your conversation.

If you happen to live in a district that is represented by women in both the House and Senate, we'll patch you through to the Capitol Switchboard, where we recommend you contact the Minority Leader in the House or Senate. Call 1-866-311-3405 and report-back.

Our canvassing efforts at the local musical festival downtown on Thursday evening resulted in a variety of interesting opinions and conversations. While there were a large portion of locals who were very much in favor of health care reform, and receptive to the free pizza we would be offering the next day at Moose's Saloon, it was clear that some of the individuals we spoke with had been grossly misinformed about what health care reform would mean for them and their families. We made a point to clarify and speak to some of the lies that have been spread by the maintainers of the status quo.

The next day at Moose's, we gave away free pizza to those individuals who stopped by to share their health care story and fill out our health care survey. We only stayed for an hour, though, before we had to maneuver our beast of an ambulance through the Cabinet Mountain Range to get to the American Cancer Society/Cancer Action Network's Relay for Life.

When Karlyn Zimbelman, a farmer's wife from the tiny Montana town of Conrad, found out she needed hip-replacement surgery, she looked into the cost of the operation -- about $40,000.

For years, Karlyn and her husband have saved money but cutting out health insurance. The cost would sink their small farm. So, Karlyn did some research. She read in AARP's magazine about a medical tourist who got major surgery in India. The news story described great care at a reasonable price. That's how Karlyn, who had never traveled internationally beyond Mexico and Canada, found herself in a banker's office, taking a second mortgage on the farm to pay about $12,500 for surgery and 13 days of medical care in New Dehli.

Don't forget to join us tomorrow night for a brilliant "Lighting the Night" healthcare vigil to demand healthcare equity for all. The event of nearly 2,000 healthcare advocates, Congressional, civil rights and labor leaders will take place just steps from the White House at Freedom Plaza, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, starting at 7:00 p.m.

RSVP at http://www.healthcareequalityproject.org/

Send in your pictures to: healthcarecans@gmail.com

The Maine Change That Works campaign today launched "Begging for Change," a multimedia effort to highlight Maine families' urgent need for comprehensive health care reform that includes an affordable public health insurance option.

Throughout Maine, cans or jars with messages asking for spare change to help a local family facing a health care catastrophe are commonplace at neighborhood convenience stores and gas stations. Mainers also regularly see fliers promoting yard sales, community suppers or other events to raise money for a Maine family that has been devastated by medical bills.

"Please support a health plan that is the equivalent of yours--it's only fair. It should allow me to choose my own doctor, it should emphasize preventative care and it should cover everyone," Roxanna of York Harbor wrote to one member of Maine's congressional delegation. "I urge you to support legislation to provide health coverage for all. Allow your constituents to choose from a menu of public or private coverage. Don't fail your fellow Mainers--imagine what it must be like for them," Dorothy, also from York Harbor wrote to another member of the state's delegation.

"Nothing could more vividly illustrate the need for health care reform than when members of our community face such staggering health care costs that they must ask their neighbors for financial assistance," said Dr. Wayne Myers, M.D., former Director of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and past President, National Rural Health Association. "It's difficult to overstate how urgent it is for Congress to act to pass legislation that will help Mainers avoid financial ruin when faced with a health care emergency. When you read the messages on these collection cans, you see that these families simply cannot wait."

The "Begging for Change" campaign will collect as many of these images as possible and present them to Maine's members of Congress to underscore the need for immediate action on health care legislation that will help Maine families who cannot pay the costs of a health care crisis on their own.

A public health insurance option would provide Mainers with a choice - keep the insurance they have if they like it or be guaranteed quality, affordable coverage through a public health insurance plan. Such an option is needed to bring down costs, make coverage affordable, encourage private health insurance companies to compete, and guarantee that quality, affordable coverage will be there for people no matter what happens.

"Maine people do not have time to wait for relief from the skyrocketing cost of health care. In this time of economic uncertainty, we need health care coverage to be a sure thing, and that is what the public option brings" said Nicole Witherbee of the Maine Center for Economic Policy. "Every day that we wait, families across our state and our country are forced to delay care and make life-or-death medical decisions, pushing the financial well being of families and the economic viability of our nation into further peril."

* View more photos of Mainers 'Begging for Change' and send in your own pictures by emailing healthcarecans@gmail.com

* You can listen to--and download--the mp3 of Portland musician Peter Alexander's original song, "Begging for Change--The Healthcare Blues."

Lyrics for 'Begging for Change' after the break.

Lighting the Night: Healthcare Equality '09

Our country's healthcare crisis grows worse by the day - and it's hitting women, racial & ethnic minorities, and underserved populations the hardest. We suffer most from the broken healthcare system, we need to make our voices the loudest. That's why we're taking our movement to fix healthcare to the nation's capital.

On June 24th, a coalition of equality and social justice advocacy groups, labor unions, community organizations, civil rights and women's groups, doctors, nurses, healthcare workers and activists will gather in Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. to "Light the Night" and demand that elected leaders pass healthcare reform legislation that provides high quality, affordable care that works for everyone.

This event comes at a special moment in the fight for healthcare reform. On June 9th, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a bill on healthcare reform that includes important provisions around health disparities. On the same day, the Congressional Tri-Caucus (Congressional Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific American Caucuses) released their draft of the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009, a key piece of legislation to put us on a path towards healthcare equality. This is our moment to make a difference.

Please join us at 7pm on June 24th for the Lighting the Night Healthcare Equality '09 rally, speak out, and candlelight vigil in Washington, DC at Freedom Plaza.

The event is free, but space is limited. You can RSVP for this event right now to:

• Speak out to demand healthcare equity for all
  
• Stand up for the health of our children and families
  
• Culminate the evening with a candlelight vigil to shed light on the suffering caused by healthcare inequalities that we want to end once and for all
  
• Enjoy food and live cultural entertainment

If you would like to volunteer for the June 24th mobilization, please email speakup@healthcareequalityproject.org