It's OUR Healthcare! Coalition Releases Statewide Television and Print Ads; Calls on Governor and Legislature to Pass Affordable Healthcare Reform Now

Shannon Vandevelde: “We are part of the 30 million Californians with health insurance.”
John Vandevelde: “At least on paper.”
Shannon Vandevelde: “With kids, you have to have it.”

Yonnine Larry: “But the costs just keep going up.”
Josef Larry: “Nine hundred dollars a month for our family.”

Shannon Vandevelde: “Not to mention all the co pays.”

Anna Zuniga: “I’m putting off a mammogram.”
Alex Zuniga: “Check ups and screenings – they are luxuries we can’t afford.”

Josef Larry: “If the Governor or Legislature asked us, I’d tell them: talk’s cheap, healthcare isn’t.”

Anna Zuniga: “It’s not real healthcare…”
Alex Zuniga :“ Unless we can afford to use it.”

Pass health care reform now. We can’t afford to wait any longer.

The second 30-second ad, which can also be viewed at www.itsourhealthcare.org, features Richard Corlin, M.D., former president of the American Medical Association and also former president of the California Medical Association. In the ad, Dr. Corlin says:

“After 35 years in medicine, illnesses that were once life threatening can now be detected and treated early on – preventive medicine is literally saving lives.

“But with changing coverage and rising costs, it’s getting harder for patients to take care of themselves.

“If the Governor and Legislature are serious about fixing health care, they’ve got to make sure it’s affordable for patients to get the care they need, when they need it.”

Pass health care reform now. We can’t afford to wait any longer.

“We represent workers in many different occupations… healthcare, long term care, state and local government and in building services and what’s consistent across the board is that working people are paying more and more for less healthcare coverage,” said Jeanine Meyer Rodriguez, SEIU Campaign Director. “That’s why it’s long been our top priority to fix our healthcare and we’ve waited long enough.”

“Health care is critical to AARP's more than 3.2 million California members,” said Tom Porter, State Director, AARP California. “California's rules that allow insurers to deny coverage to persons with pre-existing conditions need to change. It is intolerable to maintain a system that allows those who need health care the most to have no place to buy insurance."

“With so many Californians--including many of our students--needing affordable healthcare, we urge the Legislature and the governor to act now to bring real reforms to our healthcare system," said Larry Allen, a Lake County high school teacher and member of the California Teachers Association's board of directors. "This issue is too important to be ignored. The people of California, including our children, deserve better."

The ads, the first to be run by the coalition, will begin airing in Sacramento today.

In addition to the TV spots, the coalition announced today that it has placed ads in daily newspapers across California. The print ads read: “IT’S NOT REAL HEALTHCARE UNLESS WE CAN AFFORD TO USE IT. Legislators need to ACT NOW to make healthcare affordable.” The ads urge readers to call elected officials, and feature the personal stories of constituents. The coalition is also running online ads on newspaper and political news sites.

It’s OUR Healthcare! is a coalition of seniors, health care consumers and labor; including Consumers Union, Health Access, Service Employees International Union, AARP, California Teachers Association, California Council of Churches, the California Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and more than 90 other groups.

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