In the midst of the current Washington-centric debate on health care, the public feels its voice is not being heard - and that Congressional leaders need to be reminded about what they want from reform.
That's why Pavel Chec, a registered nurse from Minneapolis, MN, and more than one hundred other Americans have sent video "postcards" to members of Congress, as part of "Say 'Yes' to Health Reform" - a web-based campaign organized by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, an organization I lead.
The campaign features video testimonials of Americans from communities across the country who are "saying 'yes'" to comprehensive health reform that tackles issues of affordability, access and quality brought on by our nation's high rates of poorly prevented and mismanaged chronic disease - and "saying 'no'" to the status quo.
Why chronic disease? Because it is the #1 cause of death and disability in the U.S., and the leading driver of rising health care costs. In fact, 75 percent of our health spending in the U.S - $1.6 trillion annually, or the equivalent of our entire national deficit this year - is linked to the treatment of patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, asthma and cancer.
Over the past few years as our organization has worked with Americans across the country, we have heard many stories about how important it is to fix this issue. Only with meaningful reform to address this issue will we have a shot at improving the cost, quality - and availability - of health care over the long haul.
Gov. Dick Lamm: The Crime of the Century
Never before has one group appropriated as much money that belonged to another group in the history of crime. It was literally and figuratively as easy as taking candy out of the mouths of children.
Joan Williams: Health Care? Let's Do It for Charlie
The Trujillos' story punctuates the perverse incentives built into the current health care system, which leaves employers with choices no better than workers'.
Dan Agin: The Way It Is: Are Liberals Disgusting?
Is rapid change really repulsive? A hundred years ago, thousands of British and American women decided they had waited long enough for political justice and they joined the Suffragette Movement.
Andy Wilson: Losing Sight of the Real Issues of the Health Care Debate: People
The moral of my story is that, contrary to right-wing myth, it's not who's paying for the medical care that affects its quality.
That is because drug companies make big money curing symptoms, but not when they cure the disease. As long as the disease is there, the expensive symptom drugs need to be taken forever.
As much as people want to gripe and complain about their insurance, without grants like these, there simply would be no health care for insurance to cover