Atlantic Philanthropy and Health Care for America Now
07/18/08 | Comment (1)
From the Atlantic Philanthropies, Atlantic Currents:
We know now from the Institute of Medicine that quality care is elusive, despite the high price we pay for health care, more than in any other nation. We know that uninsured individuals are more likely to put off care, become needlessly ill and die, and we know that at least 18,000 Americans die each year because they lack health coverage. We know that most of the uninsured are in working families, headed by people who earn modest incomes, and we know that Hispanics and African-Americans are among the hardest hit when it comes to health care in the U.S., contributing to racial disparities in health outcomes. In short, we know too much not to wage the most effective fight possible for a goal that so many have sought to achieve in the United States for so long.
That’s why Atlantic recently approved a major grant – one of the largest for advocacy ever made in the U.S. – for HCAN, and why we hope you’ll join or support this coalition to make certain that every member of Congress and every candidate for the House, Senate and White House understands that meaningful health reform is an essential action item in 2009. To win this fight, HCAN is organising visits to hundreds of members of Congress, running paid ads, organising public events and generating press coverage. HCAN is keeping pressure on U.S. leaders by asking them to declare which side they are on – the side of the majority of Americans who want affordable, quality health coverage for all; or the side of the private insurers, who want a free hand in maximizing their profits. Most crucially, HCAN insists that real reform must provide us with a choice: keep the insurance we have, or choose another private plan or a fully public plan with which private companies will be forced to compete on price and quality.
As Stuart Schear, our Communications and Policy Executive and a veteran of many efforts to improve access to health care, puts it: “No matter who we are, how sick we are or how little we earn, every one of us deserves affordable, quality health care coverage, and HCAN is ready to fight to win in 2009.”
