Fighting Rich Lobbyists to Save Health Care Reform

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http://www.alternet.org/story/139969/fighting_rich_lobbyists_to_save_health_care_reform_is_alternet%27s_top_take-action_campaign_of_the_week/

Fighting Rich Lobbyists to Save Health Care Reform Is AlterNet's Top Take-Action Campaign of the Week
AlterNet. Posted May 11, 2009.

Powerful medical lobbyists stand in the way of health care progress in the name of profits. We must put an end to it.

Our health care system is a structural rip-off that burdens American families and creates an unfair treatment gap based on people's financial means. While many politicians have campaigned on the promise of health care reform, once elected they shirk their responsibilities, succumbing to pressure from powerful medical groups, insurance companies, and individuals such as anti-reform frontman Rick Scott. These powerful medical lobbyists use their influence to stand in the way of progress in the name of profits. We must put an end to it, and now is the best time to act.

According to research cited by Democratic pollster Celinda Lake (PDF), 70 percent of Americans -- including almost 2 out of 3 Republicans -- want major health care reforms, with the choice of a public insurance plan open to everyone added to the current mix of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers.

With significant grassroots pressure on members of Congress and the Obama administration to challenge the status quo, we might just be able to avert a looming public policy disaster.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt once famously said to a group of activists from the progressive movement of that era who were arguing for him to act on an issue as vital to them as health care is for America's future, "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it." It's time to make sure Obama and his administration do what they know is right. That's why Health Care for America Now is AlterNet's top take action campaign of the week. A coalition of progressive groups, Health Care for America Now, which includes groups such as ACORN, the AFL-CIO, Campaign for America's Future and MoveOn.org, is fighting for the inclusion of a public-insurance option in any new health care legislation.

We must make sure that Obama follows through on his campaign promises of health care reform. Click here to learn more about how you can get involved: http://www.healthcareforamericanow.org/#