BELOW ARE DETAILS ON THE 6 CANDIDATES RUNNING UNOPPOSED FOR THE 6 OPEN SEATS ON THE 2023 ISPC BOARD OF DIRECTORS. FOR ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ELECTION PROCESS, PLEASE REACH OUT TO MONICA MAALOUF AT MONICA@ILSINGLEPAYER.ORG.

New Candidates

How long have you been a member of ISPC? 

I have been a member of ISPC for about 2 months, but a long time supporter of Medicare for All.

Why is single-payer health care important to you?

Single Payer Healthcare is vital to me as Senior Citizen. I would not be as healthy as I am if it were not available. Beyond that personal aspect, I am learning just how threatening privatization has become, and I am committed to do all I can to make sure that Traditional Medicare is improved and preserved for future generations. Single Payer for all, from birth to death, must be legally protected as a right, not as a privilege available only to those who can pay for it and assure outrageous profits to corporations and their executives. One of the most egregious examples of corporate attacks on Traditional Medicare happening recently is the forced switch to Medicare Advantage by retirees' plans such as New York City's teachers and more recently the transit system workers there. The physical and emotional well being of hundreds of thousands retired employees in cities and towns is threatened while corporate shareholders and executives sit in their boardrooms and salivate over their ever growing profits ... and year end bonuses! This must be stopped NOW so that future generations do not have to worry and needlessly suffer and die because of inhumane corporations in charge of our healthcare.

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

At Jane Addams Senior Caucus, I have worked on an educational presentation about the threat of privatization to Traditional Medicare. We have spoken to our own members and to a number of senior community groups and opened seniors' eyes to exactly what Medicare Advantage is beyond the "no premium but free gym membership and groceries" promises. We also speak about ACO-REACH and how it enhances the corporate profit model, even though it has been "paused" for now (until CMS can reconfigure it and give it another enticing acronym!). We are just now reaching out to our progressive members of City Council to engage their assistance in getting the word out to our communities. We need all the help we can muster because we have learned that so many seniors are not aware of just how threatened we are by the creeping pivatization of our healthcare.

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

If I am elected to the Board of ISPC, I will of course do what is asked of me to advance its work to protect and improve Traditional Medicare and to ensure it as a human right. At this time, I believe education of as many communities, groups and politicians as we can reach is vital to building an environment where people of all ages want to be included in the work of ISPC. As envisioned, single payer will be for everyone and thus in everyone's self interest to fight for it. And I believe, as does everyone involved in the work, that it is truly a fight and will become more of one in the near future. 

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

As to other aspects of health care justice, I have spoken with my doctors about single payer and have been very surprised by their agreement that it must happen as soon as possible before privatization becomes more entrenched in our lives... and in their lives and livelihoods too of course. My primary care doctor has often honestly indicated her reaction to me: "Linda, they own us." On a brighter note, a few years ago when the AMA House of Delegates was meeting here in Chicago, I was a participant in a JASC and allies disruption and die--in of its opening session. Contrary to expectations, we were allowed to remain in the room for about 20 minutes and when we were asked to leave and did so, we received applause and many thumbs-up. Eventually, AMA cut ties to the anti-single payer lobbying group, Partnership for America's Health Care Future. 

How long have you been a member of ISPC? 

 I honestly don't know. 3 years at least. 

Why is single-payer health care important to you?

I believe in it because it is a moral imperative generally, but personally, I have gone for periods in adulthood without access to health care while having chronic health conditions. It was often impossible to get desperately needed services and medication. That experience feels so personally demoralizing and degrading that I am personally motivated to at long last move the U.S., like the rest of world, to robust, universal, single-payer health care.

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

 As ED of Jobs with Justice, I led the organization to formally join ISPC, participated in ISPC events and actions, and in partnership with Anne Scheetz, walked many a picket line with unions in contract battle over wages and health care costs which is of course directly linked to our failure to provide single payer health care in this country. Our failure to do so comes at great expense to working people. Anne and I often discussed this with union leaders and activists.

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

I would be happy to contribute in any way that may be helpful.   I won't presume to know what that is pre-emptively but am happy to serve however is best.

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

I was lead organizer on a health care organizing campaign with the Campaign for Better Health Care. As Anne eloquently explained, the organization and campaign was a splinter from single payer advocacy which happened prior to my hire. I didn't know that back story. Regardless, I campaigned doggedly for passage of the Affordable Care Act. Legitimate arguments can be made both that the ACA was helpful and saved lives, and that the ACA ultimately did irreparable damage to the movement for single payer health care. I did the work because I needed to work of course, but I was undecided on how this question would be resolved. I was then, and am now, fervently in favor of single-payer health care. Along with climate change, single payer health care is the most viscerally urgent policy priority of our time.

Incumbents

Abla is a current ISPC board member and member of the Disability Committee.

Abla was born in Dearborn, Michigan. She has four sons and a daughter. She lived in Florida for thirteen years, received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Central Florida. While living in Florida, she became sick due to toxic shock syndrome that led to amputations. She came to Chicago for rehabilitation and to be near her sons. She got involved with Access Living and got to know many great friends. Through her involvement with Access Living and friends, she learned to become an advocate for people with disabilities. Currently she’s enrolled at Northeastern University for her master’s in Rehab Counseling. She’s looking forward to graduating one day and continuing to serve the community, specifically people with disabilities. She’s so glad to be part the Illinois Single-Payer coalition and be part of the team. Best of all getting to know all these compassionate people.

Monica is a current ISPC board member.

Dr. Monica Maalouf is a primary care internist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine. She did her undergraduate training at the University of Chicago where she studied biology and anthropology. She went to medical school at the University of Minnesota and completed her residency training at New York University School of Medicine in New York City. Her medical interests include HIV care and women's health with a particular focus on marginalized communities. She is Co-president for Northern Illinois of Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP) Illinois and an active member of the Illinois Single-Payer Coalition. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

Sobia is a current ISPC board member and serves as secretary of the board.

Sobia is a board certified emergency physician and activist. She grew up in New York City and received her medical degree from SUNY-Downstate, Brooklyn. She completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She moved to Chicago to pursue a Masters in Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a fellowship in International Emergency Medicine at Rush University Medical Center. She is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Rush University Medical Center and co-Director of the Social and Global Emergency Medicine track for the Rush Emergency Medicine residency program. She has worked with organizations like International Medical Corps and Konbit Sante to volunteer in Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, and Haiti. She is an active member of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) and the Illinois Single-Payer Coalition (ISPC). She also serves on the boards of Personal PAC and the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians.

She loves being a mother to two boys and a dog, a wife to a talented attorney, and a physician with a conscience and a passion for action.

Winnie is a current ISPC board member and serves as president of the board.

Dr. Winnie Lin is a pediatrician. She was born and raised in the Chicago area. She received her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and completed pediatric residency at the University of Chicago. She is a primary care pediatrician at Mile Square Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center on the South Side of Chicago. She also teaches pediatric residents and medical students at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is an active member of both the Illinois Single-Payer Coalition and Physicians for a National Health Program.