Today, a coalition of unions and public advocacy groups met in Springfield -- and state capitols nationwide -- to launch Health Care for America Now! (HCAN), a campaign that will push for a comprehensive national health policy by the end of 2009. Sam Stein of The Huffington Post has an overview of the national project:
In addition to spending $40 million -- $1.5 million of which will be put behind an initial ad buy (national TV, print, and online) -- the group will be sending organizers to 52 cities, blasting out emails to 5 million households, airing spots on MSNBC and CNN and submitting op-eds to major papers (officials hinted at the New York Times piece to come).
In addition, the campaign is going to take advantage of Moveon.org's massive data files to reach out to like-minded supporters and officials promised to work in Democratic and Republican districts alike.
The HCAN event in Springfield featured representatives from the Illinois Education Association, AFSCME, SEIU, Citizen Action Illinois, and Planned Parenthood Illinois, to name a few. Small business owners from around the Prairie State were also present to demonstrate how the current American health care system is hurting entrepreneurs as well as employees. From a press release put out by Citizen Action/Illinois:
“For more than a decade, my bottom line has been under siege by rising health care costs,” says David Borris, owner of a Hel’s Kitchen Catering in Highland Park. “As it is, I can only afford health care for 14 of my 25 employees, excluding their spouse or families. We cannot trust the insurance industry that puts profits before people to get us out of this mess. Our health care system is not working, and government cannot expect small businesses to shoulder this burden alone."
According to a press release, HCAN offers a new solution to the health care crisis:
Americans can keep the private insurance they have, join a new private insurance plan, or choose a public health insurance plan. The campaign also calls for a government role in setting and enforcing rules on the insurance industry which consistently charges whatever it wants, sets high deductibles, denies coverage based on pre-existing conditions, and drops coverage when people get sick.
As we have previously reported, the health care situation in Illinois is an increasingly dire one, with fewer and fewer people covered and insurance expenses rising for those that are. The reform campaign has no plans to wade into presidential politics or coordinate with the Obama campaign over the coming months, though well-known Democrat Elizabeth Edwards, wife of one-time candidate John Edwards, is serving as a spokeswoman for the group.
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