Last night, an impressive group of speakers and passionate activists gathered in Washington DC, in the appropriately named Freedom Plaza, to declare their commitment to health care advocacy and demand that Congressional reform efforts address systemic inequality in the American health care system. Punctuated throughout the evening by the rhythmic sounds of Rudy Gonzalez Y Su Lokura's Latin jazz band, the evening was a tribute to both the passion and diversity of the health care reform movement.

The night started off with speeches from Congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Congressman John Conyers, champions of health care equality in Congress. Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, also Chairwoman of the National Hispanic Caucus, expressed her support for the public health insurance option to raucous applause. Congressman Conyers brought his 13-year-old son onstage to have him declare his support for health care reform before leading the crowd in a chant of "everybody in, nobody out."

Following the members of Congress, the event opened up to various speakers and activists, each with a moving story or clever epigram that put their own spin on their support for health care reform. Juan Carlos Ruiz, the energetic emcee, pumped up the crowd in between speakers: "An insurance card is like a cell phone: it's only good when your network is on!"

Activists Target Congress With Thousands of Postcards, Telephone Calls

WASHINGTON, DC - Tonight, thousands of healthcare workers, doctors, nurses and other frontline caregivers, joined activists, organizers, healthcare equality advocates and ordinary Americans to demand that Congressional reform efforts address systemic inequality in the American healthcare system. They were joined by Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, and Congressman John Conyers, champions of healthcare equality in Congress. "Lighting the Night, Equality '09" hosted by the Healthcare Equality Project sent a loud and clear message to Congress with thousands of calls and hand-written notes: Reform must pass this year, but it must be equal, just, and make concrete investments in eliminating life-threatening disparities.

The event provided a forum for participants to demand healthcare equality. Event-goers participated in a moving "Speak-out," where they verbally shared their personal difficulties overcoming obstacles in an unequal system. Participants also shared individual experiences and stories on thousands of postcards to be hand-delivered to members of Congress by the Healthcare Equality Project. Additionally, they were given the number 1-800-577-1635 to distribute in their communities that will connect callers to their member of Congress so that they can personally deliver an equality message and a call for change.

"The consequences of more delay are grave. Injustice in the healthcare system is literally killing communities, and the time for Congressional action is now," said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard. "Congress needs to hear from voices in the equality movement as we work to shape reform."

The evening culminated with a candlelight vigil to "Light the Night," in remembrance of those who have suffered or died due to disparities in the healthcare system, and a rallying call to action for the event-goers to demand action from the Congress. The activist work continues tomorrow as participants head to Capitol Hill to talk one-on-one with members of Congress from both parties about the urgent need for equitable reform.

"Our leaders in Congress must pass healthcare reform that truly works for everyone by making concrete investments in reducing life-threatening healthcare disparities, investing in underserved communities and the healthcare workforce, and expanding access to quality care," said Dennis Rivera, Chair of SEIU Healthcare. "Reducing inequality is in everyone's interest. A more equal system that's grounded in prevention will also mean a less costly, higher quality system."

Event organizers and participants represent a unique coalition of major equality and social justice advocacy groups, labor unions, community organizations, civil rights and women's groups, healthcare workers and activists. Participants heard from Eleanor Hinton-Hoytt of the National Black Women's Health Imperative about the obstacles women - particularly women of color - face when seeking care. Eun Sook Lee, of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium talked about the barriers Asian Americans must overcome when seeking care. "Too often, and for too many, language is an insurmountable wall to life saving treatment. Too frequently, a lack of cultural competence has led to poor outcomes for patients from communities of color. These are fixable problems, but healthcare reform must make real commitments to address these issues," said Eun Sook Lee.

Echo events will be happening in select cities, including "The Domino Effect of Healthcare Inequality" event in Miami, Florida on the same night.

Participating coalition partners include SEIU, Gamaliel, LULAC, ACORN, Families USA, La Clínica del Pueblo, Center for Community Change, Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) - AFL-CIO, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), URU the Right to Be, Partnership to Fight Chronic Diseases, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Puerto Rican Coalition, Hispanic Federation, and Latinos for National Health Insurance, Asian American Justice Center, Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance - AFL-CIO (APALA), Colorado Progressive Action Hispanic Federation (HF) Idaho Community Action Network , Latino Federation , Montanans for Healthcare, National Council of Urban Indian Health, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), National Women's Law Center (NWLC), Oregon Action (OA) Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Take Action Minnesota , The Task Force, South Dakotans for Healthcare Solutions and Washington Community Action Network (WCAN).

There's a ton of stuff happening in Washington, DC this week in the movement to win health care reform. Below is a snapshot of what's going on, to help you keep track of everything that's happening during this crucial time period.

Don't forget to join us tomorrow night for a brilliant "Lighting the Night" healthcare vigil to demand healthcare equity for all. The event of nearly 2,000 healthcare advocates, Congressional, civil rights and labor leaders will take place just steps from the White House at Freedom Plaza, 14th & Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, starting at 7:00 p.m.

RSVP at http://www.healthcareequalityproject.org/

Today, SEIU's Change that Works campaign released a report on rising health care costs and the value of reform in Maine. The facts speak for themselves - in a state like Maine, health care reform is not just about improving the health and safety of Americans, it's also a bottom-line, balance sheet issue. Government, families and businesses large and small stand to save trillions from fixing health care. It will strengthen Maine's businesses, help us retain jobs, and provide greater access and choices to Mainers in need of care. Below are highlights from the report:

• In 2007, Maine's economy lost as much as $413 million because of the poor health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured. That equates to $3,600 per uninsured Maine resident. This year, Maine faces a $265 million projected state budget deficit. This represents 8.6% of state spending. As a result, Maine has already cut or frozen reimbursements to health care providers for Medicaid or SCHIP beneficiaries, and cut funding for homeless shelters.

A snapshot of Maine's uninsured:

• More than 48,000 Maine women were uninsured as of 2007.
• 16,770 uninsured children
• 280,000 non-elderly Mainers uninsured between 2007-2008
• 19.702 of the uninsured adults in Maine are between the ages of 50 and 64, meaning that more than 7% of Maine's aging adults lack health insurance.

On spending:

• 321,000 non-elderly Mainerss spend more than 10% of their pre-tax family income on health care costs in 2008.
• Health insurance premiums rose by 89.7% from 2000 to 2007, while median earnings only increase a mere 16.8%
• In 2007, premiums grew 5.4 times faster than wages
• By 2016, projections show that Maine families will have to pay $30,000 for health care annually.
• If current trends continue, family premiums would spend over 59% of median household income. This represents a 104% increase over 2008 levels.

Download the full report here: http://action.seiu.org/MaineReport

This afternoon, a major coalition to fight healthcare disparities is launching its national campaign with kick-off events in Washington, DC and twelve other states. The Healthcare Equality Project (HEP) is a national partnership between nationwide and community-based organizations, faith networks, students, parents and individuals working to achieve comprehensive health care reform that will eliminate healthcare disparities once and for all.

Over the next several months, the Healthcare Equality Project will be working with members of Congress, coalition partners, and activists on events and actions to pressure Congress to make the right choices on healthcare reform to eliminate healthcare disparities. HEP plans to fight to ensure that Obama's $634 billion down-payment on health reform gets the support from Congress it deserves, and has launched a website and an online petition where activists can sign up at www.healthcareequalityproject.org to connect with the disparities movement and join the fight to eliminate healthcare disparities.

This afternoon, a major coalition to fight healthcare disparities is launching its national campaign with kick-off events in Washington, DC and twelve other states. The Healthcare Equality Project (HEP) is a national partnership between nationwide and community-based organizations, faith networks, students, parents and individuals working to achieve comprehensive health care reform that will eliminate healthcare disparities once and for all.

Over the next several months, the Healthcare Equality Project will be working with members of Congress, coalition partners, and activists on events and actions to pressure Congress to make the right choices on healthcare reform to eliminate healthcare disparities. HEP plans to fight to ensure that Obama's $634 billion down-payment on health reform gets the support from Congress it deserves, and has launched a website and an online petition where activists can sign up at www.healthcareequalityproject.org to connect with the disparities movement and join the fight to eliminate healthcare disparities.

"There is some data out there that's pretty indisputable that even when you account for incomes and levels of insurance...you're still seeing problems in the African American community and the Latino community, Native American communities, in terms of quality of care and outcomes...Part of what we should be doing is to think about...ways that we can close those gaps. And to the extent that that is reflected in this reform, I think that will ultimately save everybody money."

- President Barack Obama, White House Summit on Health Care

· IT'S ABOUT QUALITY: All healthcare is not created equal. Even when people from communities of color have similar health insurance and education, the actual quality of healthcare they receive is often poorer than their white counter-parts. As a result, they are much more likely to experience life-threatening complications and higher mortality rates from common chronic diseases.

· IT'S ABOUT ACCESS: As the famous cell phone commercial correctly asserts, "it's all about the network." A health insurance card is only as good as the network it's on, and too often, people of color in low-income communities find themselves without a signal. Healthcare reform must address equality issues by investing in the healthcare infrastructure to expand and improve provider networks, community health clinics, and hospitals in rural and urban communities serving minority and low-income populations.

· IT'S ABOUT DIVERSITY: The healthcare workforce lacks diversity at nearly every level of health care delivery, from the lab technician to the family doctor. Lack of language access, cultural competency, patient-provider miscommunication, stereotyping and prejudice have contributed to lower quality of care. Many states have seen tremendous shifts in racial demographics, yet the vast increases in people of color haven't been reflected in growth in healthcare workforce diversity. To eliminate disparities, we need a healthcare workforce that looks like America and that ensures language access for people whose first language is not English because clear communication between patient and provider is essential

· IT'S ABOUT SMART INVESTMENTS: A huge proportion of spending in healthcare is for the treatment of preventable chronic diseases, like hypertension, diabetes, and lung and heart disease, and especially their avoidable complications. A smart, sustainable healthcare system will invest in preventing these diseases, which disproportionately affect minorities, and in effectively managing these conditions to reduce expensive, painful and life-threatening complications, which also disproportionately affect minorities.

· IT'S ABOUT TIME! Putting off healthcare reform for another year isn't an option. Healthcare reform that works for ALL Americans must happen this year. We cant fix our economy if we don't fix our broken health care system. The healthcare system Americans deserve will deliver quality affordable health care to ALL no matter the color of their skin, the language they speak, economic status, or geographic location. The longer we wait, the worse it gets.

The first step is making sure the President's budget gets the support it needs from leaders in Congress. His budget makes a huge down-payment on reforming healthcare this year, and toward erasing the disparities that have resulted in unequal care. We need to show our strong and unequivocal support for the Presidents budget. Already, Obama has done more to reform health care than George Bush did in eight years including:

· Covering More Children: Reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program to cover an additional 4 million children

· Preventing Cuts in Medicaid: $87 Billion to prevent Medicaid cuts

· Real Money for Disease Prevention in Underserved Communities: $1 billion for prevention & wellness--much of which will be focused on underserved communities & advocates need to weigh in with HHS to shape this spending

· Research Into Which Treatments Work Best for Minority Communities: $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness--research into what treatments & procedures work best for which patient groups--this research will be conducted with sensitivity to gender, ethnicity, and minority populations.

· Technology To Collect Health Data For Communities of Color: $20 billion in Health Information Technology investments--Health Information Technoloy should enable the improved collection of patient demographic data to better measure patient outcomes by subpopulations

· Investing in the Healthcare Workforce for Communities of Color: $500 million for health care workforce--much of this investment will go to promote National Health Service Corps, whose physicians, dentists, and nurses serve underserved communities

Obama's proposed budget will go even further to promote equality by:

· Investing $640 Billion In Expanded Coverage To Improve The Delivery System and Contain Costs. It's the first step in vastly reducing the number of uninsured and leveling the health care playing field.

· A New Nurse Home Visitation Program That Targets Families At Risk for Chronic Disease With Early Intervention Programs for New Moms.

· Additional $330 Million in Health Care Workforce - Something Communities Of Color Need, So That We Have The Workforce and Delivery System To Level The Playing Field.

Click here to join the Healthcare Equality Project and show your support for President Obama's budget.