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The Alabama Voter 
Winter 2010 Edition
Published February 17, 2010

Letter to the Editor on Health Care

by Charlotte Ward, LWVAL Co-President and Voter Editor

The LWVUS has a strong position on universal health care. The State Board is considering a letter similar to those below to be sent to major state papers. If you have access to a local paper, please feel free to send this letter or an appropriate adaptation of it to your local paper. Remember, all letters stating the League’s position must go out over the name of the local or state League president. If you tailor the letter to your community, your local president should be the signer.

To the Editor:
The League of Women Voters of Alabama supports the following statement from Mary Wilson, LWVUS President:

“We have a health care crisis in America.  Too many citizens lack adequate health insurance coverage and rising costs threaten everyone.  The failure of Congress to act on these issues over decades has simply compounded the problems and undermined faith in government. 

“Both the House and Senate have now passed comprehensive health care legislation, and the bills share many essential elements:  they greatly expand health care coverage to include millions more Americans; they protect the coverage that currently delivers care to most; they contain essential elements to reduce costs over the long term; and they accomplish these goals at a reasonable cost. 

“We understand that there may be a number of ways for health care reform to succeed.  None of these possibilities will accomplish all that needs to be done, and Congress will need to revisit many issues in coming years.  But any of these alternatives moves us toward successful health care reform and thus is better than the status quo.  Congress should not miss this historic opportunity to enact comprehensive health care reform legislation.”

If the letter above sounds too “partisan” for your area, here is an alternative wording:

Although  Alabama does better than many states in providing health care for its children, thousands of Alabamians are without access to adequate health care.  As of 2008, 12% of Alabamians had no health insurance.  A report by Families USA estimates that between 2000 and 2006, approximately 3,400 Alabamians between the ages of 25 and 64 died because they did not have health insurance coverage.

The League of Women Voters of Alabama supports the following statement from Mary Wilson, LWVUS President:

“We have a health care crisis in America.  Too many citizens lack adequate health insurance coverage and rising costs threaten everyone.  The failure of Congress to act on these issues over decades has simply compounded the problems and undermined faith in government. 

“We understand that there may be a number of ways for health care reform to succeed.  None of these possibilities will accomplish all that needs to be done, and Congress will need to revisit many issues in coming years.  But any of these alternatives moves us toward successful health care reform and thus is better than the status quo.  Congress should not miss this historic opportunity to enact comprehensive health care reform legislation.”

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