HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE JUNE 25, 2002 PRESS CONFERENCE

Health Care Access Resolution Answers Call for Needed Reform
Historic Coalition Announces Campaign Gains

Ken Frisof, National Director, UHCAN:
"We believe that health care for all in the U.S. is an achievable dream. If all of the other democracies in the world have found a path to universal health care, so can we. For fifty years, public opinion polls have consistently shown super majority support for health care for all. The Health Care Access Resolution is a vehicle through which the American people can come together and turn their desire into political will."

Minesh Shah, Jack Rutledge Fellow, American Medical Students
"Association: As medical students, we are intimately involved in the health care system. We see the consequences of denied access and delayed care, recently quantified by the Institute of Medicine at 18,000 preventable deaths every year. What is most alarming to students is the unnecessary human suffering entrenched in a system where health care is treated as a commodity instead of a right. AMSA is one of the leading national organizers behind the Health Care Access Campaign, and is committed to the combined federal and local action that drives it."

Sharon McMinn, an uninsured Arkansas resident living with epilepsy:
"Have you ever had your sense of security taken from you through no fault of your own? Have you ever had $20,000 dollars worth of hospital bills dumped in your lap without warning because your insurance company filed for bankruptcy and they no longer were paying for your medical bills? Do you know what it is like to have health insurance and feel fairly secure only to be told that your health insurance carrier is pulling out of your state and you have six months to find new health coverage? I, like a lot of other people, do not want to have my life cut short because I do not have the money for preventative health care."

Rudolph Mueller, MD, author of As Sick As It Gets: The Shocking Reality of America's Health Care System:
"How can the wealthiest nation on the planet allow people to needlessly suffer and die when we possess the means to help them? What kind of system allows bottom-line bureaucrats to dictate patient outcomes? Why do we pay more and get less [than other nations]? The answer is that the other nations have universal coverage and we don't. We've tried everything else. It's time to do the right thing. HCR 99 is the right thing."

Rep. Donna Christensen, (V.I.), Chair, Congressional Black Caucus Health Care Brain Trust (and first female physician in the House)
"Lack of insurance is the 7th leading cause of death in this, the richest and most technologically advanced country in the world, resulting in hundreds of preventable deaths very day. And so providing equal access to health care for everyone is central to eliminating the disparities in health care for people of color, the poor, and those in our rural areas and improving and protecting the health of all Americans. Within [our nation's] promise of the pursuit of happiness is embodied the right to health. All of us who join here today, and many others who could not be here in person, begin a life saving and life giving campaign which must continue until there is comprehensive and quality health care that is readily and equally accessible for all."

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL):
"I am very proud to be a cosponsor of the Health Care Access Resolution. Poll after poll shows that Americans are seriously concerned about the need for health care for all, but too many politicians still do not appreciate the depth of their constituents' concern. The Resolution was designed to promote the ability of people to send this message effectively to their elected representatives."

Rep. Danny Davis (IL):
"Health care must be perceived as a right and not a privilege. We practice 'sickness care' in this country and make money off the illnesses of others. When we use our collective energy we will achieve health care for all."

Brenda Girton-Mitchell, Associate General Secretary for Public Policy, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA:
"The NCC believes that health care for all is a moral imperative. Health care must become a basic right, the availability of which is based on respect for the sacredness and dignity appropriate to those created by God in the image of God. ŠThe defects in our system, which cost too much, offers too little, and excludes too many - results in many people being denied access to health care. We believe that the Health Care Access Resolution is the first step to putting health care back at the top of the agenda of Congress."

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center, Union of American Hebrew Congregations:
"This health care crisis is not only a human tragedy, but an immense ethical challenge. The moral soul of our nation is sick, and it will be healed only when we ensure that each and every one of God's children has the opportunity for healing. Through passage of the Health Care Access Resolution, we will hasten the day envisioned by the prophet Ezekiel, in which 'every living thing shall be healed.'"

Ollie Cantos, General Counsel and Director of Programs, American Association of People with Disabilities:
"There are 56 million people with disabilities in the U.S. This large disabilities community cannot be ignored and we are united in support of the need for health care for all. It is a question of fundamental respect for all human beings." Complete Statement by Ollie Cantos

Hilary Shelton, Director of Washington, DC Office, NAACP:
"Ethnic minorities continue to suffer disproportionately in this health care system. It is time to consider all the people that make this nation strong. We must counteract the impact of the health insurance industry on the Congress. The NAACP will be considering how to do just that at our upcoming national conference when we discuss health care and this Resolution. The Health Care Access Resolution is extremely important to the NAACP."

Maya Rockeymoore, Senior Resident Scholar, National Urban League:
"Access to quality, affordable health care is vital for the achievement of the Urban League mission of moving African Americans into the social and economic mainstream. Providing universal access to affordable, quality health care is the best way to level health disparities and increase productivity in the U.S."

Dan Hawkins, Vice-President for Federal, State and Public Affairs, National Association of Community Health Centers:
"The NACHC has long supported action to achieve universal health coverage because the health centers we represent care for the millions of Americans who have been forgotten or left behind by our health care system. Quite simply, we believe that the health of our families should not be determined by the wealth of our families. This time, let's get it right: we need universal coverage AND we need health care access for ALL Americans."

Gary Zuckett, Executive Directors, West Virginia Universal Health Care Coalition:
"The Health Care Access Resolution points to a solution of this [health care] crisis which, if left unattended, will only get worse. This solution is not rocket science, but one of political science. The cosponsors supporting the Resolution are visionaries who have their feet firmly on the ground. Their vision is not of a 'star wars' SDI shield,' but one addressing the critical need for a health access 'shield' around our country and everyone in it. If other democracies in the world can provide health care for all their citizens, SO CAN WE!"

Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, Director, Abundant Life Clinic and Minister of Health for the Nation of Islam
"The men at the 'Million Man March' recognized health care as a fundamental right. In the mosque and in study groups we stand with Rep. Conyers for the Health Care Access Resolution. In the District of Columbia, we recently lost DC General Hospital. We lost that battle, but this is the war ­ we can't afford to lose it!"

Rep. John Conyers (MI), Chair, Universal Health Care Task Force and chief sponsor of the Health Care Access Resolution:
"This is the single most important issue of our time. There has to be critical mass to get this Resolution passed and all it takes is Members of Congress hearing from their constituents what they expect them to do."

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