Health Care for All

Protecting the health care programs of today and mobilizing for affordable and quality health care for all by 2010

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lack of quality and affordable health care deepens and causes poverty for millions of families in the U.S. and around the world. Recognizing that access to health insurance is a huge barrier for millions of Americans, we’re building momentum and advocating for legislation for health coverage for all.

RESULTS is working to make health care for all by 2010 a national priority through the efforts of our grassroots activists, coalition work, and champions in Congress.

Health Care for All by 2010: A Moral and Economic Imperative

As the U.S. economy falters, RESULTS’ works to ensure the health and well-being of low-income Americans is even more critical. According to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau in August 2008, there were 46 million uninsured in 2007, including over 8 million children. In addition, millions more are underinsured. Lack of access to quality, affordable health care is a direct cause, and effect, of poverty and RESULTS has worked since 2004 on health care as one of our major campaigns.

Goals for RESULTS’ 2009 Health Care for All Campaign

The National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends a system of universal health care by 2010 based on five guiding principles.

• Health care coverage should be universal.
• Health care coverage should be continuous.
• Health care should be affordable for Individuals and families.
• The system of health insurance should be sustainable for society.
• Health care provided should be effective, efficient, safe, timely, patient-centered, and equitable.

RESULTS believes that creating a health care delivery system based on these principles will not only best serve vulnerable populations in the U.S., but will significantly improve health care quality and costs for all Americans. We endorsed these principles and made them our guideline for evaluating specific health care reform proposals. Using these IOM principles, in 2008 RESULTS endorsed a model of a National Health Program, that would expand Medicare, as our long-term goal. RESULTS supports the National Health Care Act (H.R.676) in the House and the American Health Security Act of 2009 (S.703) in the Senate, which address the needs of the uninsured, medical inflation, and the inconsistent quality of health care in the U.S.

RESULTS remains committed to H.R.676 and S.703 as marker bills for the health system our country needs. Unfortunately, the major players drafting health reform legislation in the House and Senate are not using a single payer system as the model for health reform legislation this year. In the meantime, the health of millions of low- income Americans is at stake and so we are simultaneously engaged in efforts to expand coverage and access for vulnerable populations. We are supporting policies that are building blocks to a national health program and will make a huge difference to people living in poverty in the short term.

There is a real need to make sure the needs of low-income Americans are at the front and center of 2009 health reform legislation. Specifically, our network is pushing Congress to strengthen Medicaid to cover all lower-income Americans and expand access to quality care through Community Health Centers. RESULTS volunteers worked hard in late 2008 and 2009 to ensure that the current health care safety net is maintained and strengthened. The economic recovery package passed by Congress in early February increases federal funds for Medicaid by $87 billion, a key priority for our network, to help states maintain health coverage during the recession.

In addition, we’ll continue our work to expand children’s health coverage, building on new legislation to renew and improve the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides health coverage to low- and moderate-income children. This new law will allow 4.1 million uninsured children to get health coverage. Also, states will now have the option to cover legal immigrant children and pregnant mothers with federal CHIP funds. The signing of CHIP legislation by President Obama is just the first step for America’s kids. There will still be an estimated 5 million, or more, children without health coverage after the bill is fully implemented. We are building upon our work on CHIP to push for health coverage for every child.

Large racial and ethnic disparities in health care access, coverage, and quality of care, including differences in preventative, diagnostic, and treatment services, compromise the quality of life for millions of Americans. Numerous studies and reports have documented that racial and ethnic minorities are in poorer health, receive lower-quality health care, suffer worse health outcomes, and have higher rates of illness, injury, and premature death when compared to whites. We continue to support efforts to address health disparities in Congress.

RESULTS believes that any health care reform effort must not only focus on coverage, but must also focus on the severe racial discrepancies in health care quality, cost, and access that arise from what are known as the “social determinants of health,” such as income, education, and social and physical environments. Health  for all requires investments in important nutrition safety net programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps) and child nutrition programs (up for reauthorization in 2009). We are working with our allies to advocate for investments in these critical lifelines for families.

Finally, financing health reform is a pivotal issue that will determine the outcome of the reform effort. RESULTS believes health reform financing must be a collective responsibility where everyone contributes their fair share.