This holiday season alone, hundreds of members and activists recruited through SEIU hosted house meetings on health care. In this same spirit, thousands of SEIU members will make calls, send emails, and set up lobby visits this week to urge Congress to act as swiftly on real economic recovery for working people in America as they did to bail out Wall Street.

Independent policy experts warn that due to the widening economic crisis, billions in crucial public services may be cut at a time when people affected by the recession rely on them more than ever. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, states are facing severe budget shortfalls this year and next that represent up to 25 percent of their general fund budgets.

SEIU members provide crucial public services--healthcare, senior services, and public safety--to a growing number of people most affected by the economic crisis and looming state budget cuts. These cuts would come at a time when local communities already feel the ripple effect of reduced spending by the people who work in these jobs providing care for our parents, our children, and ourselves.

Meanwhile, surging healthcare costs are already threatening millions of families with bankruptcy and putting others at risk of losing their homes. According to a recent Harvard University study, medical crises contribute to half of all home foreclosures and could put as many as 1.5 million Americans at risk of losing their homes each year.

"People are excited about Obama's inauguration, but they are worried about losing their own jobs, their healthcare, their ability to retire, their homes, losing their way of life for their kids. These fears are real and they are urgent, because leading economists say that without significant aid to states our economy is going to plunge deeper into recession," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger.

Burger and SEIU President Andy Stern recently sent letters to Congress and the Obama transition team describing the elements of an economic recovery plan that would work for working people, including:

• significant relief to state and local governments to preserve and rebuild crucial services and good jobs
• major spending on infrastructure projects that are shovel-ready and others that with help create jobs and bolster local communities in the long-term; and
• spending on innovations in the health care and energy sectors to restore our economic competitiveness and put us on a sustainable path.

SEIU members are pressing for the economic recovery package as the first part of a wider campaign, Change That Works, designed to bring economic solutions to Main Street, including efforts to fix the nation's healthcare system and ensure workers have a voice on the job. This groundbreaking campaign will be unveiled on a telephone press conference today at 1:30 p.m. EST (more details here).

SEIU will also be holding a live chat with bloggers and activists about Change That Works tomorrow Thursday, January 8 at 4:15 p.m., which can be viewed live on www.SEIU.org/livechat -- don't forget to tune in!

Working Americans and health care consumers offer views & ideas on Obama health plan

Despite the busy holiday season, Americans throughout the country - from caregivers like nurses, doctors and pharmacists to ordinary health care consumers - have been gathering to hold their own health care meetings. You've brought your friends, your family, like-minded individuals, and even those who have different points of view together to share their ideas and input on health care reform that comes from the ground up.

News report after news report has been gracing our inboxes over the holiday season - from national papers like the New York Times to small, local papers from your areas.

Try this out - it's unbelievable:

1. Go to http://news.google.com. That's the Google News site.
2. Type in "obama health care discuss," and then click "search."
3. Voila! - that's right, there are that many articles that have been written about your health care discussions from around the country.

And it's not just the sheer volume of stories, it's what's contained within them. Each news story contains powerful anecdotes from meet-ups that include personal stories, concerns about the current health care system, and amazing recommendations and ideas on how to improve how we deliver care in this country.

We encourage you to read their reports in their own contexts. Because each and every meet-up has been a true discussion, picking and choosing small bits takes away from the power of reading them in their entirety - each is a portrait of our health care system.

Here are five highlights from the coverage:

1. New York Times: "At House Party on Health Care, the Diagnosis Is It's Broken"
2. San José Mercury News: "Citizens group answers Obama's call on health care"
3. Flint Journal (Michigan): "Health care reform topic of discussion at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Flint"
4. Norwalk News (Connecticut): "Group discusses U.S. health care"
5. The Herald-Mail (Maryland/West Virginia/Pennsylvania): "Group eyes big changes in health care"

We couldn't be more proud of the work that all of you are doing. You've taken the initiative, and this is the result. It's what real grassroots mobilization looks like. Keep it up!

(On a side note: We held our own health care meet-up here at SEIU a few weeks ago - read about the discussion and watch the video footage from the meet-up on SEIU's blog here).

Amidst retail sales reports, record snowfall and last minute shopping tips, no one expected "health care" to be gracing the headlines this week. But thanks to you and thousands like you, news outlets all across America -- from Chattanooga, Tennessee to St. George, Utah -- are buzzing with reports of your health care meet-ups.

Last week, SEIU staff convened a health care discussion of our own. Topics of conversation included "what's wrong with the current healthcare system?" and how policy can help address these problems. We decided to capture the meeting on video and wanted to share some highlights with you all. Watch here:

This is a busy time of year for all of us -- making it all the more impressive that thousands of Americans are hosting discussions in their homes and communities this week. Let's keep the momentum going right into the New Year. If you haven't yet attended or hosted a health care discussion, there's still time. Watch our video and sign-up today.

(You can view our hosting resource page, containing discussion guides and audio of our host conference call by clicking here.)

Otherwise, please use this form to report back to us on how your discussion went. And don't forget to submit your ideas for Inauguration Day!

In addition to the nearly-250 SEIU discussions that have been scheduled, over 4,200 meetings have been scheduled nationwide.

From the New York Times:

"The Obama transition team has prepared discussion guides for people who participate in the health care meetings to be held in homes, community centers, churches, libraries and coffee shops around the country."

"Some of the people holding health care meetings were volunteers in Mr. Obama's presidential campaign. Some come from consumer groups like Health Care for America Now or from the Service Employees International Union, a strong, early supporter of Mr. Obama."

Not only is the discussion series shaping up to be massively successful (thanks to you!), but it's earning major kudos. As blogger Bob Laszewski says on Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review:

"About everyone, including the Obama health care team, believe...1993's top-down health care reform process was a big mistake. The new folks don't intend to make that mistake--good for them."

Some of the people holding health care meetings were volunteers in Mr. Obama's presidential campaign. Some come from consumer groups like Health Care for America Now or from the Service Employees International Union, a strong, early supporter of Mr. Obama.

Because of the massive interest, the New York Times is reporting that even the health insurance industry is "encouraging its employees and satisfied customers to attend." According to the New York Times, Obama transition team spokesperson Stephanie Cutter said that all parties and points of view are more than welcome at these gatherings:

"These are listening sessions,' Ms. Cutter said. 'We are trying to find people who share Obama's goal of health care reform, even if they disagree on the specifics.'"

Bob Laszewski (the blogger mentioned above) echoes that statement, stating that "health care is one of the biggest industries in the country, and it's completely legitimate for people who work in the industry -and certainly for satisfied customers of the industry- to show up and express themselves like any other citizen."

It's clear that the Obama team is trying to build some consensus among all parties. This makes it more than vital that caregivers like you attend these events. We're in the trenches every day, and our expertise absolutely needs to be heard.

To host your own house party, please visit http://action.seiu.org/healthcaremeetup/.

Last week, we wrote about the opportunity for you to become a health care leader in your community by hosting a health care meet-up near you. It's a chance to plug into the national health care discussion being initiated by President-elect Barack Obama's transition team over the next two weeks.

So far, community members of SEIU and its partner organizations Healthcare United and Americans for Health Care have volunteered to host a total of 200 of these meet-ups. You can still sign up to host your own by clicking here.

If you're hosting one of these events, you can find the official Change.gov moderator and participant guides to help you structure and guide your discussions.

Watch HHS Secretary-Designate Tom Daschle talk about why these discussions are so important:

Thursday, December 18th at 3pm EST, we'll be hosting a conference call for people who have signed up to be hosts (note new date). We'll spend just a few minutes offering some pointers for your gathering and letting hosts share your plans with each other. We'll also answer any specific questions you have. if you'd like to join us, please email info@imahealthcarevoter.org and we'll send you the call-in information.

If you've hosted or attended a health care meet-up in recent days, please feel free to share your experience in the comments section below!