WHEREAS every person who lives or works in Ohio is entitled to quality health care as a fundamental human right; and
WHEREAS there is an escalating crisis in access to health care in the State of Ohio as massive layoffs and plant shutdowns cause alarmingly high numbers of workers and retirees to lose health care benefits; and
WHEREAS existing for-profit insurance plans often fail to deliver adequate, timely coverage to the insured and fail to provide any coverage at all to more and more Ohioans; and
WHEREAS inefficiency and unnecessary overhead and profits inherent in the existing failed system divert hundreds of millions of dollars from the taxpayers of Ohio, from Ohio businesses attempting to provide employees with health benefits, and from state and local government entities and taxpayers, and impede the efforts of health care providers to deliver quality health care to their patients; and
WHEREAS individual Ohioans and Ohio businesses continue to be subjected to large, unchecked increases in insurance premiums, prescription drug prices and other medical costs, imposing hardships on millions of individual Ohioans and driving many businesses and individuals to eliminate or curtail desperately needed coverage and benefits; and
WHEREAS a comprehensive, publicly-funded not-for-profit program will provide higher quality care for all Ohioans at much lower cost (as is the case in all of the nine largest industrialized countries except for the United States, according to the World Health Organization); now, therefore, be it
BE IT RESOLVED:
1. That the Ohio General Assembly enact without delay the Health Care For All Ohioans Act (HCFAOA), which is HB 186 and SB 168, and which provides comprehensive lifetime coverage for all Ohioans;
2. That pursuant to the HCFAOA, every person covered by it would have the same uniform schedule of benefits, including inpatient and outpatient hospital care, preventive care, doctors' visits, prescription drugs, vision, hearing, mental health, dental, home care, emergency care, medical devices, and all other necessary medical services determined by any state licensed medical provider;
3. That pursuant to the HCFAOA, an independent elected agency of State government be created to implement and administer the HCFAOA;
4. That pursuant to the HCFAOA, any person displaced from employment as a result of implementation of the Act shall be eligible to receive up to $60,000 for two years for subsistence and training, with the understanding that many of such displaced persons will find alternative employment administering the HCFAOA;
5. That pursuant to the HCFAOA, funding will be provided by the mechanisms specified by the Act, with the understanding that any claimed inequities will be subject to change by the Ohio General Assembly.
The Executive Board of the Premedical Chapter of the American Medical Student Association at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, does hereby unanimously express our support for the Health Care for All Ohioans ACT and does hereby endorse Single-Payer Health Insurance in Ohio.
Click here for a list of all individuals and organizations that have endorsed this campaign. An Organization of One Proclamation
WHEREAS, healthy people and healthy communities are the centerpiece of any strong and vibrant society; and
WHEREAS, Americans from the Case Western Reserve University premedical chapter of the American Medical Student Association are among the most intelligent and socially responsible people in the world; and
WHEREAS, ONE billion people live on less than $1 a day; and
WHEREAS, ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, is a new effort by Americans to rally Americans – ONE by ONE – to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty;
WHEREAS, a pact directing additional resources for basic needs - education, health, clean water, food and care for orphans - would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries; and
WHEREAS, ONE is an unprecedented bipartisan American movement and part of a fast growing global
movement to make poverty history;
NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Executive Board of the American Medical Student Association premedical chapter at Case Western Reserve University,
do hereby proclaim our chapter to be an
ORGANIZATION OF ONE.
We encourage everyone to recognize the devastating impact extreme poverty and global AIDS have around the world and take action to bring about change.
Bradley Eckert and Jennifer Gulas, Co-Presidents, Case Western Reserve University Premed AMSA