Fighting for Reform

By Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez on 10/26/2009 @ 12:00 PM

We’ve heard loud and clear from those who oppose health care reform and we’ve heard the President and others fire back at those critics, but at the end of the day, where do Latinos stand in this debate?

Today we’re launching Latinos United for Healthcare to ensure there’s no doubt where we stand: we stand for reform. Latinos United for Healthcare is a broad coalition of Latino organizations and leaders from across the country who have come together with the common purpose of amplifying the voice of the Latino community in the current national debate.

When there’s a system that leaves 47 million without health insurance coverage, including one in three Latinos, and in which over 45,000 die every year from lack of coverage, then it’s about time we fix the system. When Latinos suffer from stark disparities in rates of asthma, lung cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS and other diseases, we can’t stand for anything else but reform. When Latinos, like so many fellow Americans, are denied coverage for pre-existing conditions or dropped from their insurance plans at the moment they need coverage the most, it’s time to say enough is enough.

We need meaningful reform that brings down costs and makes quality health insurance more affordable for all, lets people keep their existing coverage if they so choose, promotes wellness and prevention, reduces health disparities, eliminates the five-year ban on legal immigrants’ access to health services, and ensures equal treatment for the Americans of Puerto Rico.

Quite literally, health care reform will save lives. That’s the bottom line that matters most. It’s why we’ve come together and it’s why we’ll fight vigorously for inclusion in this debate and full reform.