By Joseph Young
Special to the AFRO
U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich, center) criticized his Republican colleagues for their lack of support for President Obama's health care plans. (Courtesy Photo)
|
(June 26, 2009) - U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. ( D-Mich.), did not shy away from blasting his Republican colleagues for not supporting President Obama’s healthcare plan at the Lighting the Night, Equality ’09 rally Wednesday at Washington, D.C.’s Freedom Plaza.
“Some of my colleagues are taking lots of money from the insurance industry,” said Conyers.
“We want universal healthcare now. That’s what we need.”
Nine of the 10 Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee sent a letter, dated June 5, to President Obama expressing their opposition to the public option portion of the President’s plan, a government-sponsored health insurance plan.
“At a time when major government programs like Medicare and Medicaid are already on a path of fiscal insolvency, creating a brand new government program will not only worsen our long term financial outlook but also negatively impact American families who enjoy the private coverage of their choice,” the letter stated.
The senators cite the Milliman study, which estimates that the public option would cost families with private insurance nearly $1800 more per year.
The letter also conveyed other Republican concerns – that a public option would ultimately lead to a “federal government takeover of our healthcare system.”
Although some Republicans and centrist Democrats are leading the charge to kill the government-run insurance portion of Obama’s healthcare plan, activists are pushing back.
Congresswoman LucilleRoybal-Allard (D-Calif.), in her speech at the rally, pointed out that America’s healthcare system as presently structured is severely broken.
“We need a robust public health policy,” she said to a cheering crowd of nearly 2,000- supporters. “Your voices need to be heard loud and clear to eliminate health disparities.”
Allard also noted in her speech that although America spends more on healthcare than any other nation in the world, 47 million American’s have no health insurance and that healthcare reform would expand access, improve quality and reduce cost. “We’re not getting that now,” she said, “and the numbers prove it.”
According to The Healthcare Equality Project (HEP), a healthcare reform group that targets healthcare disparities in minority communities and host of the rally, African-American lung cancer patients are less likely to have surgery, and have lower survival rates than their White counterparts; deaths caused by heart attacks are higher in hospitals that disproportionately serve African Americans; Blacks with heart disease are one-third less likely to undergo bypass surgery than Whites; and Black pre-school children who are hospitalized for asthma are three times less likely than White children to be prescribed routine medications to prevent future asthma-related hospitalizations.
“We want healthcare that works for everybody,” said Juan Carlos Ruiz, director of Advocacy and Community Organizing for the Latino Federation of Greater Washington, who served as emcee for the rally.
“We believe we must act now.”