Five Diverse Organizations Come Together to Promote Health Care Reform as the Top Domestic Priority for the Next President and Congress WASHINGTON, Aug. 19
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Harry and Louise, the iconic couple
featured in ads to defeat the Clinton health plan in 1993-1994, are back on
television. This time they will lend their voice to strongly encourage health
care reform.
The new multi-million dollar ad campaign will air on national television
throughout the Democratic and Republican conventions. In light of ever
increasing health care costs and increasing numbers of people without health
insurance coverage, Harry and Louise will urge the next President and Congress
to put health care at the top of the domestic agenda.
The ad campaign is sponsored by five prominent national organizations.
Those organizations -- the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
(ACS CAN), the American Hospital Association (AHA), the Catholic Health
Association (CHA), Families USA, and the National Federation of Independent
Business (NFIB) -- represent diverse constituencies with historically
different views on health care reform, but they have come together to promote
urgent action to resolve the growing health care crisis.
The new ad was shown during a press conference today at the National Press
Club. The ad will start airing on Sunday, August 24 and will continue through
Sunday, September 7. The ad will be featured on the Sunday network talk shows,
national cable networks (CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel and Comedy Central)
throughout the two-week period of the national party conventions, and on
television news programs in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul.
The joint campaign effort by the five organizations is intended to
communicate the urgency of this crisis and demonstrate the commitment of these
diverse groups to meaningful healthcare reform.
"With 47 million uninsured and 25 million underinsured people in America,
the deepening health care crisis is jeopardizing the enormous progress we have
made against life threatening diseases such as cancer," said Daniel E. Smith,
president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). "To
win the war on cancer, which will kill more than 560,000 people in America
this year, we must improve access to quality, affordable health care
throughout the country."
"Our hospitals and caregivers see first hand the effects that lack of
coverage and access have for many people," said Rich Umbdenstock, president
and CEO of the American Hospital Association. "We must keep reform at the top
of our national priority list."
"Health care reform is a moral imperative, as well as an urgent practical
necessity. CHA and Catholic hospitals across the country support a health care
system that serves and protects the dignity of everyone," said Sr. Carol
Keehan, DC, President & CEO, Catholic Health Association.
"Meaningful health care reform will only happen if it is the top and
earliest domestic priority of the next President and Congress," said Ron
Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. "Our diverse organizations will
work together to help make that happen."
"The healthcare situation has reached crisis levels. Our nation's job
creators -- the small business owners and mom and pop stores in our
communities -- are struggling with unsustainable and ever-increasing
healthcare costs. Small firms have seen health insurance increases of 129
percent over the last eight years and they are paying more for the same
benefits than their larger counterparts by nearly 20 percent," said Todd
Stottlemyer, President and CEO of NFIB. "The healthcare situation is
unsustainable if it continues like this. Our nation's leaders must make
healthcare reform a priority, and it must address small businesses' concerns.
Our nation's job creators can afford no less."
**For broadcast quality video, please contact Sue Zoldak at Goddard
Claussen at sue@gcsa.com or 202-306-3012.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy partner of the American
Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions
designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to
encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national
priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer
with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more
information, visit http://www.acscan.org.
The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider
organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health
in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which
include more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care
organizations, and 38,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA
provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on
health care issues and trends. For more information, visit http://www.aha.org.
The CHA, founded in 1915, supports the Catholic health ministry's pursuit
of the strategic directions of mission, ethics, and advocacy. As the nation's
largest group of not-for-profit sponsors, systems, and facilities, the
ministry is committed to improving the health status of communities and
creating quality and compassionate health care that works for everyone. For
more information, visit the CHA website at http://www.chausa.org.
Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is
a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high
quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Working at the national,
state, and community levels Families USA has earned a national reputation as
an effective voice for health care consumers for more than 26 years. For more
information, visit http://www.standupforhealthcare.org
(or http://www.familiesusa.org).
NFIB is the nation's leading small business association, with offices in
Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit,
nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small and independent business owners a
voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB's
powerful network of grassroots activists send their views directly to state
and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a
critical role in supporting America's free enterprise system. NFIB's mission
is to promote and protect the right of our members to own, operate and grow
their businesses. More information about NFIB is available online at
http://www.NFIB.com/newsroom. For information about NFIB's healthcare
campaign, visit http://www.FixedForAmerica.com.
CONTACTS:
Steve Weiss, ACS CAN (202) 661-5711
Jennifer Armstrong Gay, AHA (202) 626-2342
Fred Caesar, CHA (202) 721-6321
Dave Lemmon, Families USA (202) 628-3030
Stephanie Cathcart, NFIB (202) 314-2056
SOURCE American Hospital Association
