Four candidates are running for three open seats. Click on a name here to jump to the candidate’s statement.

Lauren Anthony (formerly Kadziel)
Jody Coss
Carolynn Ediger
Shannon Rotolo

How long have you been a member of ISPC?

I joined ISPC on October 11, 2017.

Why is single-payer health care important to you?

My eyes, mind, and heart were opened to the importance of single-payer health care when I participated in MediCal (California’s Medicaid) in 2014. For the next two years, I spent time between California and Illinois, which added to the complexity of an already complex system. The hours I spent on the phone and in person mounted quickly. Providers were limited, and it took several months to get a follow-up appointment. My experience only scratched the surface of the fallacies associated with this current system. Until single-payer is enacted, profits will continue to be realized by corporations and leaders while disparities and confusion perpetuate. Working in healthcare, I constantly see the effects of funding treatment over prevention. As we know, it is common for individuals to not seek important preventive services due to co-pays, etc. Personally, one of the most important aspects of single-payer health care is coverage of preventive care for all.

How have you been involved in the single-payer movement?

Since 2017, I have been an active member of ISPC and served on the Board for the past two years. My involvement in ISPC has allowed me to meet the most incredible and passionate group of individuals. I’ve enjoyed activism a tremendous amount due to the cause as well as the people.

In addition to attending educational events and rallies, I co-organized the 2018 Bughouse Square tabling for ISPC, compiled annual reports for the 2019 Annual ISPC Meeting, and co-facilitated the 2019 ISPC Board Election. Most recently, I have worked on organizing ISPC’s customer database and participated in the membership drive by calling active and inactive members.

What contribution would you like to make to the ISPC Board?

If elected to the 2020 ISPC Board, I would like to increase participation in the membership committee. Specifically, I would like to track and present data regularly and spearhead a project to solicit feedback from current members – to understand how we can better engage them.

What other aspects of health care justice have you been involved in?

During graduate school, I had the opportunity to partner with a reproductive health organization for my practicum. Since then, I have supported causes related to reproductive health/rights/justice, another area of our current system in need of significant improvement.

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How long have you been a member of ISPC?

Officially since last fall at the School Year Seminar in 2019

Why is single-payer health care important to you?

During my career as an RN I worked for 20 years in labor and delivery in a level 3 unit. I worked with people from a very wide variety of socioeconomic groups, from the family members of a nationally known rock and roll band to pregnant homeless people. I was proud that the care given was the same. I do not see that same care being given today. More recently, in 2015-16, I also needed four complete rotator cuff surgeries, two per shoulder, when my insurance company would not approve a procedure a doctor wanted to do. The procedure they mandated failed. I also have many years working on anti-corruption issues prior to turning my attention to single-payer.

How have you been involved in the single-payer movement?

I invited Anne Sheetz to our Indivisible meeting to present a program on Medicare for All in 2017. That's how we met. I am a retired Registered Nurse with 20 years of experience and have always been interested in improving people's access to care.

I attended a Medicare for All Camp in Washington DC two years ago with Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. That's where I met Jordan Centers. Margaret was a good teacher, making me understand that people, not politicians, lead movements. That lesson came at a very important time for me after campaigning for Bernie Sanders during his first campaign. While I'm glad I experienced working for a political campaign, I will not make that mistake again.

I started a chapter of HOPE in the Midwest - Health Over Profit for Everyone. This small group made the big sign that was at the AMA Get Out of the Way Protest in Chicago. I was part of the group that infiltrated the meeting and I photographed it for publication after the event.

Ed Klein and I are on the National HOPE steering committee since December 2018 and participate in the national calls.

Ed and I obtained a table at the national bipartisan “Unrig the Summit” event in Nashville, TN. We used half the table to promote and hand out the Fix-It Movie series and the other half to promote HOPE.

What contribution would you like to make to the ISPC Board?

I was a Registered Nurse for 20 years and my second career is owning my own photography studio, which involves all the challenges of running your own business including photography, graphic design, marketing and working with the public as a sales person. This may sound strange but in essence, we are selling the public on a single-payer system, so sales experience is important. I have strong organizational skills and computer skills along with good visual storytelling. I am not good with numbers or money.

What other aspects of health care justice have you been involved in?

Ed Klein and I led 5 die-ins during the summer the ACA was in the news, 2017 I believe. We did two in Rockford, one in Woodstock on the square, one in Janesville and one in our hometown of Freeport.

We have worked locally to keep our county-run nursing home, which has been county owned for over 150 years, from being privatized. This started two years ago and then again in January 2020 by helping our County Board hold a Town Hall (the first one they have ever done on any topic); over 200 citizens attended. We are also participating in the County Nursing Home Committee meetings by attending and giving public comment. When a privately run nursing home in Elizabeth, IL decided right at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to close permanently, we introduced the directors to be sure some of those patients were moved to our County Nursing Home and were pleased to find out that patients did come here. I also have referred two nurses I know to fill out applications to work there. We are keeping a close eye to make sure a new director with seemingly little experience and one that is running for a Republican County Board seat do not "let the ball drop" and give an opportunity for the Republican-led County Board to privatize the Nursing Home. They would very much like to do that rather than govern properly to be sure it's run properly.

I am currently working to pressure our city to turn the water on at a number of homes (right now we can't even get a straight answer on how many homes this applies to) where the water was disconnected prior to the pandemic emergency being declared. These were services turned off for nonpayment. The homes still have families living in them. I am coordinating a group of volunteers that deliver grocery, food pantry and medicine deliveries to high-risk people, elderly and disadvantaged in our city.

I am assisting the lead person on a project to make over 10,000 masks in our city. Material has been ordered, split into portions and given out for sewing; then the finished masks are collected, laundered and given to individuals or groups of workers needing masks for free. I am helping with the social media part as an admin for the page and handing out individual masks for them.

The underlying work is building a coalition where none has existed before (CANWI - Community Alliance Northwest Illinois). Ultimately this work is on pushing our city and county to be more democratic and less prone to corruption and being run by a choice few. Also encouraging and pushing the disadvantaged in our community to stand up and speak out.

Thank you for considering me for a position on the Illinois Single-Payer Coalition Board. I hope that I can do a good job and advance the movement. We have a huge opportunity considering the pandemic and loss of employment and insurance of so many in the US.

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How long have you been a member of ISPC?

I have been a member of ISPC for about the last 5 years, and intend to continue to be a member of ISPC for the future.

Why is single-payer health care important to you?

I believe everyone is entitled to health care coverage for the following reasons.

1. The Covid-19 virus is a prime example. When one person becomes ill they can expose and infect another person or persons. Single-payer will cover and provide health care for everyone be they a citizen, visitor, tourist, immigrant or undocumented immigrant. Single-payer is cost effective and inclusive.

2. Single-payer will provide health coverage including vision, hearing, dental, mental health and any necessary therapy to assure recovery and good health.

3. Single-payer will cover everyone, and also identify, map, track, test and develop best practice public health methods for treatment of pandemics, pollution and toxic waste occurrences.

How have you been involved in the single-payer movement?

I have participated in marches and demonstrations, made statements, written op-eds to newspapers (one or two have been published), and worked to bring in Jane Addams Senior Caucus to support and participate in the single-payer movement.

What contribution would you like to make to the ISPC Board?

My contribution to ISPC would be: attendance and participation in Board meetings. I am also interested in working on the Membership Committee. What other aspects of health care justice have you been involved in?

What other aspects of health care justice have you been involved in?

I’ve been an active member of the Jane Addams Senior Caucus Health Care Committee for 16 Years. I have engaged the Caucus in meetings with our IL Federal and State Representatives, demonstrations, and marches and have made phone calls soliciting public support for health care legislative bills and public events.

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How long have you been a member of ISPC?

Almost one year.

Why is single-payer health care important to you?

As a pharmacist, I see every day the impact our broken health insurance system has on my patients.

How have you been involved in the single-payer movement?

In June 2019, I attended the rally at the BCBS of IL and AMA buildings. This was my first experience with the single-payer movement. After that rally, I joined ISPC and PNHP, started writing Letters to the Editor (and was lucky enough to be published in two Chicago newspapers), participated in the ISPC speaker’s training this past fall, spoke about drug prices alongside Jordan Centers at a film screening event, spoke at the counter-protest to the March for Life this spring, provided quotes for a journalist working on a piece about the harms of private insurance, and shared relevant articles in support of single-payer via social media to try and engage other pharmacists.

What contribution would you like to make to the ISPC Board?

I recognize I have less experience in organizing and activism than many of the other board members, but I believe that I can contribute some insights specifically around prescription drugs and pharmacy-related impacts of single-payer systems. We know that prescription drug pricing is a major concern to many Americans based on recent polling, and connecting them to information about how Medicare for All addresses that issue will be important.

What other aspects of health care justice have you been involved in?

I am vocal in person and via social media about the negative impacts of pharmacy deserts, which disproportionately affect rural and low-income populations, and I have presented to the pharmacy department at my workplace about these issues. I also am interested in reproductive rights, and volunteer as a pharmacist consultant with Planned Parenthood.

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