Have a Network!

(formerly “Spread the Word”)

1. IDENTIFY OTHERS Find others who support the U.S. having non-profit single-payer national health insurance.
   • As necessary, increase their level of comfort with the idea of Health Care for All with non-profit single-payer national health insurance.
     • You can study the education section to be able to help others.
     • Plus … they can read the information in Single-Payer Education.
     • Knowledge is Power! Go for it! Be an educated citizen!
       • Submit questions! See how to do that, below.
2. CREATE YOUR NETWORK Find 3 who are willing to take action once each month to contact their U.S. Representative.
   • Keep their names and contact information on a special sheet of paper devoted to knowing who is in your network of 3 persons.
   • Their action can be as simple as picking up the telephone and calling a toll-free number and following the easy directions for calling.
   • It would be great (best) if they followed the suggested actions of the schedule.
     • Please do these actions during the first half of the month, such as the ideas for that time of the month, explained at the top of the schedule.
3. GIVE SUPPORT IF AND AS NEEDED
   IF they want to be contacted to help ensure that they take action each month:
   • Contact them on the 16th or 17th of each month.
   • IF they had not taken action and they would like another call, call them back on the 21st or 22nd to confirm that they then took action.
   • After calling on the 20th or 21st of the month, do not call them again unless they request another call!
4. MAINTAIN YOUR NETWORK If you learn that someone never takes any action after 3 months of contacts, replace them on your list with one someone else who will take action. Do not complain to them or give them a hard time about it. Be polite by not saying anything further and move on.
5. MULTIPLY YOUR CONTRIBUTION AGAIN VIA YOUR NETWORK After you have your network and feel all settled with that, encourage each one of your people to each create their own list of 10-20 people to whom they give support in the same way.
   • NOTE: don’t worry about how many people in your network establish their networks; that is, try, but do not bug them badly! Be patient! As long as we keep solid and patient efforts, this will work!

Additional Ways to be a Good “Contact Person or Contact Team” for Others

• QUESTIONS: How to Get Answers If one of the persons has a question that is not answered by the information at this web site, then send me the question.
  • Know what single-payer provides and what it eliminates
• EARLY REMINDERS EACH MONTH
  • If they want a reminder early each month
    • You can contact them during the first few days of each month.
    • They could join Nine-Nine-Oh-Nine! to get e-mail reminders.
• VOTING REMINDERS Remind them to vote on 11-04-08, Tuesday the Fourth of November 2008 and help them be knowledgeable about what U.S. candidates support single-payer.
  • If they need to register to vote, then tell them how to do that for your state … or go to [Temporary note: I need to find the best link to voter registration information and put a link here. In my state any Secretary of State office is a good place for voter registration.]
• ORGANIZATION – Remember who your participants are. Keep a list of them …
  • Name, address, e-mail address, phone number, and date initially contacted.
• MOTIVATION Stay motivated: consider the points noted in Motivation of You and Participant.

Related information

• Over half of U.S. citizens want single-payer, but the opposition to single-payer is very powerful and can design media campaigns that sound frightening and convincing.
  • Due to this reality about media campaigns, it’s best to contact only the number of persons who you can solidly support. Have a solid group of educated people all taking action, no matter how many are on your list.
• More than 3? Contact more than 3 if you know that you will have time to remind, encourage, and help them. Otherwise, due to the powerful opposition of the health insurance companies and their supporters, the degree of impact might not be as significant as you would think it would be.
  • If you decide to contact more than three persons, decide whether you want to spread the word by yourself or with a partner.
• Be polite! If someone expresses strong concerns or opposition, suggest that they go to www.99oh9.org and carefully review the Single-Payer Education section. For example, there is a link to explanations about the potential concern about wait times.