Health4all : Health Care Reform Stirs Unity

Health4all

Every year more Alaskan families lose health insurance and can't afford health care. Every year more families with health insurance cannot afford to use it because of expensive out-of-pocket charges. Every year more Alaskan elders with Medicare are refused treatment by local physicians. And every year health care in Alaska continues to cost 30 percent more than down south. These problems are a reflection of the crisis across the nation. Not surprisingly, the United States ranks last in preventable deaths compared to 14 Western European nations. We have a lot to talk about.

Lawrence D. Weiss retired from UAA in 2004 as a research professor in public health. He designed and built the Master of Public Health program at UAA, and has published three books and numerous articles on public health and health policy issues. He completed a post-doctoral degree at Harvard School of Public Health in 1982, and has been in Alaska ever since. His favorite expression is "facts matter." Occasionally he can be found in a local pub drinking beer and eating pizza while engaged in passionate conversation with friends.

Health Care Reform Stirs Unity

Posted by health4all

Posted: March 3, 2009 - 2:37 pm

President Obama is looking to get started on an ambitious health care agenda this week. On Monday, he announced Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Any day now, a Health Care Summit will take place. Change will come quickly.

To hold the Administration and Congress accountable to their commitment to enact comprehensive health reform, several health care justice groups and campaigns have joined together to form the Universal Health Care Action Network (UHCAN). This alliance hopes to both keep Washington on task and to counter the efforts to derail reform similar to those seen in 1993 and 1994.

UHCAN’s mission is to "help build, strengthen and connect organizations and coalitions in states and nationally that can effectively engage the public, policy makers and key constituencies to achieve affordable, quality health care for all." So far, UHCAN has released the following links as part of a public information drive: