100 National Groups Call for Health Care Summit

Groups Urge President-Elect Obama to Include Meaningful Health Care Reform as One of His First Domestic Priorities

Washington, D.C. – One hundred national groups representing tens of millions of Americans signed a letter sent to President-elect Obama today urging him to include meaningful health care reform as one of his first domestic priorities and to convene a national health care summit.

The signatory organizations included AARP, The Alzheimer’s Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Nurses Association, The Catholic Health Association, Consumers Union, Easter Seals, Families USA, The Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

According to the joint letter, improving the nation’s ailing economy will require “addressing health care.” It points out that “we cannot afford to delay identifying and implementing solutions to the disturbing health care trends that undermine the economic security of our families, limit the productivity of our workforce, inhibit job creation and wage growth, and threaten to crowd out investments in energy, education, and infrastructure.”   

The groups ask the President to begin the conversation on health care reform immediately by convening a health care “summit” that brings experts, leaders, advocates, and patients together to set an ambitious agenda for our nation’s health and health care. 

“As the economy worsens and growing numbers of businesses and families are unable to afford increasingly higher health care costs, it is essential that we move expeditiously to enact health care reform,” said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. “President-elect Obama will have the support of diverse health care interest groups who are already working cooperatively to find common ground to address the health care crisis.”

"As millions of cancer patients and survivors can attest, our health care system must be transformed from one focused primarily on acute care to one that makes disease prevention and early detection a higher priority," said Daniel E. Smith, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). "Meaningful health care reform will emphasize the continuum of care that spans from prevention and early detection through survivorship and end-of-life care, and ensures that everyone has access to health insurance that is adequate, affordable, available and administratively simple."

“Working people in this country are living in fear. Fear of losing their jobs and their health care. Fear of being just one illness away from financial ruin,” said SEIU International President Andy Stern, who testified today before the Senate Committee on Finance, led by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). “If we’re going to revive our economy—if we’re going to restore a sense of economic security to ordinary American families—we have to fix health care.”

"Catholic health care providers have been working for decades on behalf of a health care system that protects the dignity of each and every person in our nation. The current economic challenges we face make this an even more urgent priority, and should not be used as an excuse to postpone reform. In fact, responsibly revitalizing the American economy demands smart, substantive change in our health care system—now, not years from now," said Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, President and Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Health Association. 

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Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

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