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NEA sponsors health care reform commercial in Wisconsin
Posted: 8/13/2009 9:00:00 AM
Starting Wednesday, August 12, in the district of Congressman Steve Kagen, the National Education Association will launch a commercial in support of continued work over health care reform.
The commercial, which you can see below and on the WEAC resource page for health care reform, details the plight of the owner of a small family business unable to offer employees health care coverage. The narrative notes that small businesses will help create jobs to get the U.S. out of the recession, but they need help to do so.
“Our employees are like family,” the business owner says in the ad, “but right now we can’t afford to provide them with health insurance and I can’t get coverage for my pre-existing condition.”
The narrator urges the passage of health care reform at the national level, as it would help small businesses by giving tax credits to employers who provide health insurance for workers. Small businesses and their employees would also have access to a new public health insurance option.
The ad – which also was sponsored by Health Care for America Now, Main Street Alliance and Community Organizations in Action – reflects WEAC’s principles on health care:
- Every Wisconsin resident should have access to preventive, diagnostic, routine and catastrophic care.
- Health care coverage in Wisconsin must not be denied based on age, health status, occupation or pre-existing conditions.
- Strategies must be implemented that reduce and contain costs to assure affordable coverage for all individuals and employers.
- Individuals, employers and government must be required to pay their fair share.
- Full, free and fair collective bargaining rights must be established which will allow unions to negotiate over both supplemental coverage beyond that provided by the universal plan, as well as a share of the savings from health care reforms.
“WEAC and NEA members are working hard to ensure Congress passes a health care bill that guarantees every person in America will have quality, affordable health coverage,” WEAC President Mary Bell said. “Health care reform is an issue that affects our members, and in reality, it affects the future of our nation. Students who come to school healthy and ready to learn will one day be prepared to contribute to the well-being and prosperity of our nation and the world.”
The ad encourages viewers to call Kagen’s Green Bay office thanking him for support of the America’s Affordable Health Choice Act.
Watch the commercial here: