ACT NOW TO ADVOCATE JUSTICE FOR ALL IN THE HEALTH CARE REFORM DEBATE
A JUST HEALTH REFORM PROGRAM SHOULD BE….
INCLUSIVE--designed to serve the whole household of God--a shared responsibility grounded in our common humanity.
ACCESSIBLE-- All persons should have access to health services that provide necessary care and contribute to wellness.
AFFORDABLE: for individuals, families and society as a whole.
ACCOUNTABLE: Our health care system must be accountable to public oversight, so that all are served on an equitable basis.
The Status Quo leaves:
- 46 million people without health care
- Uninsured children have a 60 percent higher risk of death than insured children, according to a report released in October 2009 in the Johns Hopkins Journal of Public Health. (They analyzed data on 23 million children’s hospitalization in 37 states 1988 tp 2005. )
- The U.S. spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care, $7,129 per capita.
- The U. S. ranks 24th among industrialized countries in life expectancy; 26th in infant mortali
- Nearly 45,000 annual deaths associated with lack of health insurance, according to a new study published by the America Journal of Public Health
- Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health Alliance found that uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40 percent higher risk of death than their privately insured counterparts, up from a 25 percent excess death rate found in 1993.
- Private Insurers are raising costs now (NY Times 10/26/09)….imposing a 15 percent average increase on small business for health insurance in 2010.
In California:
- If leading proposals in Congress for national health care reform are enacted, most of California’s 6.4 million non-elderly adults and children who were uninsured for all or part of the year in 2007 would directly benefit.
- An estimated four million Californians would be newly eligible either for public health insurance (in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program) or for public subsidies to purchase private coverage. [Source: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research]
For more information on the health care reform debate and for resource persons to speak in your church contact Jim Hagan, Chair of the Task Force on Peace and Justice of the Presbytery of San Jose at jmhagan@sbcglobal.net
A SUMMARY of the new House bill, “Affordable Health Care for America Act” released October 29th by Speaker Pelosi is posted at
http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AHCAA-TOPLINE-102909.pdf
The FULL TEXT in searchable form is posted on The New York Times web site at
http://documents.nytimes.com/the-house-s-health-care-bill#p=1
CONTACT YOUR TWO CALIFORNIA SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY.
LET THEM HEAR YOUR VOICE.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA)
Washington, D.C. Office:
331 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-0504
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954
San Francisco Office: (more district offices)
One Post Street, Suite 2450
San Francisco, California 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0707
Fax: (415) 393-0710
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-CA)
Washington, D.C. Office:
112 Hart Senate Office Building,
District of Columbia 20510-0505
Phone: (202) 224-3553
Fax: (202) 224-0454
San Francisco Office: (more district offices)
1700 Montgomery Street, Suite 240
San Francisco, California 94111
Phone: (415) 403-0100
Fax: (202) 224-0454
REP. ANNA ESHOO (D-CA 14TH DISTRICT)
Washington, D.C. Office:
205 Cannon House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-0514
Phone: (202) 225-8104
Fax: (202) 225-8890
Palo Alto Office: (more district offices)
698 Emerson Street
Palo Alto, California 94301
Phone: (650) 323-2984
Fax: (650) 323-3498
REP. MICHAEL HONDA (D-CA 15TH DISTRICT)
Washington, D.C. Office:
1713 Longworth House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-0515
Phone: (202) 225-2631
Fax: (202) 225-2699
Campbell Office: (more district offices)
1999 South Bascom Avenue, Suite 815
Campbell, California 95008
Phone: (408) 558-8085
Fax: (408) 558-8086
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA 16TH DISTRICT)
Washington, D.C. Office:
102 Cannon House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-0516
Phone: (202) 225-3072
Fax: (202) 225-3336
Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA 17th District)
Washington, D.C. Office:
1126 Longworth House Office Building,
District of Columbia 20515-0517
Phone: (202) 225-2861
Fax: (202) 225-6791
Salinas Office: (more district offices)
100 West Alisal Street
Salinas, California 93901
Phone: (831) 424-2229
Fax: (831) 424-7099
San Jose Office: (more district offices)
635 North 1st Street, Suite B
San Jose, California 95112
Phone: (408) 271-8700
Fax: (408) 271-8713
©
2009 The Presbytery of San José
