|
|||||||
|
 |
|
home > radio > maine news > news story Maine NewsActivists Prepare for Affordable Healthcare Campaign
A coalition of healthcare activists brought the so-called "Health Care for America Now" campaign to the State House today. They argued that affordable health care for all should be a major issue in this year's congressional elections. The campaign is encouraging lawmakers to come up with some new options for consumers. These options include private coverage, government-administered health insurance or some different approach for guaranteeing access to health care for all Americans. The way Alison Vander Zanden sees it, when it comes to accessible health care; members of Congress are either with her or against her. She says, "Which side are you on? Are you on the side of quality affordable healthcare or are you on the side of being left alone to fend for yourself in a complicated bureaucratic insurance market?" Vander Zanden, a self-described health care organizer for the progressively minded Maine People's Alliance, was joined by Maine State Employees Association, the Maine Women's Lobby, Maine Equal Justice Partners and others on the steps of the State House as part of a national effort aimed at making health care the top priority for Congress next year. The Augusta event and those in 44 other cities for the Health Care for America Now campaign highlight claims that private insurers are pricing most Americans out of the health insurance market. Vander Zanden comments, "People are coming together to say that this is the year that America decides. In 2009, we will either have a guarantee of quality affordable health care we can all count on or we will continue to be at the mercy of the private health insurance industry that is charging us more, giving us less and putting company profits before our health." While critics are skeptical over the prospects of government-run health care, Vander Zanden is convinced that health care access for all will only take place when the government steps in: "In our vision of health care reform, the government works for us, setting and enforcing rules so that insurance companies aren't the only ones deciding who gets coverage and how much it costs. In our vision, quality goes up and cost goes down. In our vision, we get rid of the enormous inequities in the health care system for people of color. And in our vision, health insurance is affordable to American businesses -- both big and small." Helen Hanson is among those Mainers who say she can barely afford the insurance she carries. A direct care worker for the elderly and her husband have to carry an expensive catastrophic coverage policy, largely because of the very real threat she faces stemming from a family history of cancer. Hanson says, "Since November of 2007, I have had my yearly mammogram and two abdominal ultrasounds screenings to detect cancer early. The cost for these screenings plus the doctors’ consultations and visits is over $3,000. All of this out-of-pocket costs to me. Even with the state mandating that insurance carriers in Maine pay for mammograms, my insurance only pays about $11 of the $200 bill." Representatives of private Maine insurers did not return calls for comment on the Health Care for America Now campaign by air time.
|
|
