Habari Gani? (What's the news?)

This fight isn't over.

I sent the following letter to Claire McCaskill, Kit Bond, and Russ Carnahan. Please send this letter to your representatives. You can click on the names above to send to Missouri reps. Feel free to copy and paste this language, although if you are not a member of the American Public Health Association, you will need to change the first line.

We can still make this happen. Don't let the people that represent you get scared. Tell them they can still fight.



"As a constituent and American Public Health Association (APHA) advocate, I write to urge you to ensure that Congress sends comprehensive health reform legislation to the president in the coming weeks.

Congress has come further than ever before to passing comprehensive and affordable health reform legislation with an emphasis on changing from a system that focuses on treating the sick to one that focuses on keeping people healthy. We must expand affordable health insurance coverage to those who are uninsured, provide funding for public health and prevention activities, implement much needed insurance and coverage reforms, strengthen the Medicare system and enhance the health care and public health workforce. While the political dynamics of passing a bill may be challenging, we cannot allow politics to derail the much needed reform the American people need and deserve.

The problems with our system that need to be addressed are only getting worse: the uninsured still die prematurely at unacceptable rates by the thousands; wellness and preventive care is often available too late; the economics of the current system still do not work for individuals, business or government; the value we get for the cost is highly variable. As each day passes and more people lose their job and access to employee-sponsored health care, the problems and stresses on the health system will only get worse.

Congress cannot afford to wait any longer to pass comprehensive affordable health reform legislation.

The fight isn't over. Please pass health reform now!

Thank you for your attention to my request. I will be watching Congress closely in the coming days and weeks and I look forward to hearing your position."

Sincerely,
Katherine Eddens, MPH
Doctoral Student
George Warren Brown School of Social Work and Institute of Public Health
Washington University in St. Louis