Washington, DC, April 29, 2003-The American Public Health Association activated its members today in support of the National Mobilization for Health Care Access, which is urging access to care for the more than 41 million Americans who lack health coverage and the millions more who are underinsured.
"Guaranteeing access to health care is one of the most pressing challenges facing public health," said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, executive director of the APHA. "Lack of health care coverage compromises the health of the individual, profoundly increases the costs of health care, creates a heavy financial burden for the primary providers of care for the uninsured and contributes to the economic decline of families."
A recent issue of the American Journal of Public Health reported that nearly two-thirds of the uninsured come from low-income families and nearly three-fourths of these individuals are from families with at least one full-time worker. If uninsured individuals could obtain health insurance, their mortality rate would go down as much as 15 percent, their educational attainment would increase and their annual earnings would rise by as much as 30 percent.
"This is a critical issue that no one can ignore," said Benjamin. "We are hopeful that renewed attention from across America will make universal coverage a reality in the near future."
To address the growing crisis of the uninsured, APHA issued 14 points on universal health care. Included among these points is a call for the following:
- Universal coverage for everyone in the United States with comprehensive benefits, affordable prices and quality services;
- Organization and administration of health care through publicly accountable mechanisms to assure maximum responsiveness to public needs, with a major role for federal, state and local government health agencies; and
- Attention in the organization, staffing, delivery and payment of care to the needs of all populations, including those confronting geographic, physical, cultural, language and other non-financial barriers to service.