Members of Change that Works Louisiana are on the stomp, throughout the state of Louisiana during this August recess, working to dispel the myths of health insurance reform and expressing their health care stories and concerns. President Obama set out to make the cause of health reform a truly bi-partisan issue. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Louisianans have tremendous health issues, the campaign for reform is split along party lines. In an effort to reach across the aisle and make sure that our Republican lawmakers also know our concerns about health care in Louisiana, the Change that Works team attended a health care townhall, hosted by Congressman Rodney Alexander.
During the townhall, Rep. Alexander admits that we may have 40 million plus uninsured in this country but he believes they are protected because they have access to the emergency room. Well, according to the Committee on Education and Labor, insured American families will pay $1,017 per year to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. Read the entire blog here. Emergency room health care is not only a band-aid solution for Louisiana it also a band-aid solution for the country. Citizens
who rely upon emergency room care more often than not cannot afford insurance and generally cannot afford the cost of the emergency room visit. This cost is passed on to health insurance consumers. The Congressman goes on to say he knows these folks don't have access to primary care.
Well Congressman, a health reform bill would guarantee that these uninsured Americans would have access to primary care. And if you care about Louisianans as you profess, you will support this bill. The cost of doing nothing is too great for the state of Louisiana.
And last I heard, the United States was still a democracy and in the great state of Louisiana, we must have civil and southern debate. We can't shout down our detractors. Instead we must continue to voice our support of health reform and maintain a sense of gentility while enduring those who seem to have lost their manners.
Watch a portion of the townhall here:
And join Change that Works at some of the upcoming townhalls across the state.
