This column was originally published in AMA eVoice on August 23, 2007. Dr. Davis is president of the American Medical Association.
If you picked up a copy of today's New York Times or USA Today, you might have spotted one of these ads (PDF, 432KB) inside.
The ads coincide with today's unveiling of
a three-year AMA campaign to focus public attention on the need to expand health insurance coverage to more of the nation's 45 million uninsured patients.
The first phase of the "Voice for the Uninsured" campaign asks those planning to vote in the 2008 election to urge their elected leaders to reform our nation's health care system—and ensure that more people have access to health insurance. Using the theme "Because 1 out of 7 is 45 million too many," the campaign features real physicians and uninsured patients to illustrate the human side of this problem.
Through the end of the year, ads such as these will appear in major national publications and on TV, radio, and other media outlets in Washington, D.C., and the early primary election states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Ads also will appear on billboards and pharmacy prescription bags, and in places where crowds gather, such as college sports stadiums. In fact, if you happen to be in Washington, D.C., check out the full-blown ad display that soon will blanket the Metro Center train station.
At the center of the campaign is the AMA's proposal (PDF, 303KB) to expand coverage and choice to all patients, regardless of health status and especially to those with low income, by leveraging the vast resources already devoted to health care and giving patients more control over their own health care dollars, without sacrificing personal security or choice.
The AMA also supports incremental measures to widen health coverage, such as intensifying outreach to enroll eligible children and adults in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate passed separate legislation this month to reauthorize SCHIP, and I'm hopeful lawmakers will send a strong bill to the president when they reconvene after Labor Day.
A critical aspect of "Voice for the Uninsured" is your involvement. Volunteers from the AMA will be on hand to spread the word at various large-scale events around the country and you're invited to join them. The first event took place last week with an AMA-sponsored day at the Iowa State Fair, and more are on the way. Among those are college football games at Clemson University in South Carolina, the University of South Carolina, the University of Iowa, and Iowa State University.
You also can get involved by signing the campaign's petition, which you can do online or at any AMA-sponsored event. And all AMA members are invited to complete a brief AMA Member Connect® Survey to share their experiences with uninsured patients. In addition, watch your mail for the September issue of AMA Voice, which will include a packet of "Voice for the Uninsured" mini-fliers you can pass along to patients and colleagues.
This is an important time for health care in our country. By making our collective voices heard on this issue, we can provide coverage to those who desperately need it. And, in turn, we can improve individuals' health and our nation's health care system.
Please send comments, questions, and replies to amaprez@ama-assn.org
Content provided by: Ronald M. Davis, MD