Cover the Uninsured Week

Cover the Uninsured Week 2009 is March 22-28.

What is Cover the Uninsured Week?

Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Cover the Uninsured Week (CTUW) is a yearly event dedicated to raising public awareness of the growing ranks of Americans without health care coverage and urging our nation's leaders to make covering the uninsured a top priority. In 2008, CTUW convened diverse groups across the political spectrum to demonstrate widespread support for Americans living without health coverage, and more than 1,000 local events were organized.

Cover the Uninsured Week and the MSS

As part of its ongoing dedication to covering the uninsured and protecting access to care, the MSS is a proud national supporter of Cover the Uninsured Week. Last year, more than 50 MSS chapters organized CTUW events ranging from health and enrollment fairs to lectures on health care reform. For example, medical students at Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine organized a weeklong CTUW campaign featuring a series of lectures on health care reform and a health fair at which students provided uninsured patients with free health screenings and information about free and low-cost health insurance options. Similarly, medical students at SUNY Upstate Medical University organized a multi-location health fair addressing chronic disease screening and education for the uninsured, a health care reform lecture, and an SCHIP enrollment fair at a local middle school.

Read more (PDF) about past MSS chapter CTUW events.

What can your chapter do?

This year, AMA-MSS chapters will again organize events and partner with local organizations to raise awareness of the plight of the uninsured and engage individuals of all backgrounds in taking action on this important issue. All AMA-MSS chapters are encouraged to participate in CTUW events.

Learn more about how to plan a successful CTUW event at your chapter.

Please contact Kunal Mitra, MSS At -Large Officer, or Lynn Wink, Chair of the MSS Community Service Committee, with any questions.