CFRA Organizing for Health Care Reform
$12,100 per year.
This is how much researchers estimate the average family of four spends on health care premiums. Health care costs are rising at twice the level of inflation in 2007, and 45 million of us are uninsured. This was a significant issue in the 2008 election cycle, and we expect legislators to attempt a major overhaul in 2009. With your help, the Center for Rural Affairs will be an integral part of this discussion.
Without adequate access to quality and affordable health care, it is that much harder for rural communities to thrive. Fewer farmers and entrepreneurs are able to devote themselves to their professions because they need jobs that provide affordable benefits.
This is why we have worked on health care issues for a number of years. The Center is a member of Health Care for America Now, a coalition of organizations working to insure health care reform that works for everyone. Through this coalition, we will voice the concerns that rural Americans have about our health care system and what changes we need to see in the rural health care system.
Get Involved! There are a number of important ways you can make your voice heard. The grassroots action taskbar on our homepage has a health care petition you can sign to signify your support for health care reform that is universal, continuous, affordable, sustainable, and that enhances health and well-being. You can also share your health care stories on our blog. In the coming months, we will ask you to complete a survey on your health care needs and experiences, and organize meetings for those in the upper Midwest to discuss the challenges and opportunities of rural health care.
Together, we can be part of a solution that works for rural America.
Contact: Steph Larsen, stephl@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1014 for more information.
This is how much researchers estimate the average family of four spends on health care premiums. Health care costs are rising at twice the level of inflation in 2007, and 45 million of us are uninsured. This was a significant issue in the 2008 election cycle, and we expect legislators to attempt a major overhaul in 2009. With your help, the Center for Rural Affairs will be an integral part of this discussion.
Without adequate access to quality and affordable health care, it is that much harder for rural communities to thrive. Fewer farmers and entrepreneurs are able to devote themselves to their professions because they need jobs that provide affordable benefits.
This is why we have worked on health care issues for a number of years. The Center is a member of Health Care for America Now, a coalition of organizations working to insure health care reform that works for everyone. Through this coalition, we will voice the concerns that rural Americans have about our health care system and what changes we need to see in the rural health care system.
Get Involved! There are a number of important ways you can make your voice heard. The grassroots action taskbar on our homepage has a health care petition you can sign to signify your support for health care reform that is universal, continuous, affordable, sustainable, and that enhances health and well-being. You can also share your health care stories on our blog. In the coming months, we will ask you to complete a survey on your health care needs and experiences, and organize meetings for those in the upper Midwest to discuss the challenges and opportunities of rural health care.
Together, we can be part of a solution that works for rural America.
Contact: Steph Larsen, stephl@cfra.org or 402.687.2103 x 1014 for more information.
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Comments
Health care reforn
To Whom It May Concern:
That so many Americans and particularly those who work in the agricultural sector have little real access to quality health care is inexcuseable. Tax credits alone are half-hearted stabs at the larger problem and don't begin to address the full cost of premiums and the ever-increasing burden of health care costs. That insurance companies provide coverage for our homes, cars and lives is sensible but there is little room for that same middle man when it comes to providing the most basic of health care. No country has a plan that is without flaws, but the Canadian health care system does have many advantages that we could readily adopt. In addition to basic services, should individuals want additional coverage, they can add private insurance and still feel that the cost is not too burdensome. In my opinion, there can't be substantive, positive and affordable change until we remove the stranglehold that insurance companies have and move towards a single-payor system for much of our health care delivery. Addtitionally, we should remember that Canada's system is not socialized medicine, but medical services publicly funded and privately delivered.
So frequently, those of us who work on Americas' farms are exposed to dangerous working conditions that require good and affordable health care backup. Universal health care, responsibly administered is critically needed.
Yours,
Susan Becher
Health Care
Everyone has access to health care now. It's a matter of getting off your back side, working and using some of your earnings to purchase health insurance. At no place in our constitution is there any suggestion that health care is a God given right; therefore, those who work hardest and earn the most should pay for health insurance for those who don't work or those who prefer to spend their earnings on things other than health insurance.
Of course there is the option of moving to Canada or several other countries where health care, such as it is, is free.
Is it possible your organization has pushed the "Give the farmers more" for so long you are beginning to believe your own propaganda. The last farm bill had enough excess and waste that all involved should be embarrased. But, it's still forge ahead, since that is your source of income.
Last winter I played golf with some Nebraska farmers on a nice course in Masa AZ. I was their to visit. The farmers were there for the winter, something I can't afford. Still, you want some of my taxes for green fees for those Nebraska farmers.
May I suggest you should "Get a Life."
Sorry, but my career in agriculture forces me to think very different than you.
Ott Johnson
Farmer or not, those with
Re: Health care reform
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