ch: Al’s Channel

Illinois MVPers: Promote universal health care in Illinois!

Here are two things I’ve learned over the past few years.

1. Access to health care is at the center of almost every public policy problem our country faces. Kids who don’t have health care are more likely to miss school. Health problems contribute to half of all bankruptcies. We need universal health care, and we need it now.

2. If you want to get something done, and done right, you have to do it neighbor-to-neighbor.

That’s why I’m letting you know about something going on in Illinois. An important movement in Illinois is promoting universal health care through a referendum called Illinois Health Care Referendum 2006. IHCR is trying to collect 280,000 petition signatures of Illinois registered voters by May 1 so that the referendum can get on the ballot in November.

That’s a big job. And on Tuesday, March 21, which as you should all know is Primary Day, the group is going to have 250 volunteers at the polls collecting signatures and handing out information about Illinois legislators’ positions on health care reform.

There’s a reason this particular issue is so important to me and to the mission of MVP. Universal health care is really about sharing risk, so that no one is hung out to dry if they happen to get sick or hurt. It’s about building stronger communities, in which families have financial security and kids are able to go to school. And, it’s about common sense: other industrialized nations have universal health care, and they get better outcomes for less money than we spend on health care here in the U.S.

And, remember, another one of our Midwest values is hard work. That’s a lot of signatures we need to get together to make this happen. So let’s all pitch in.

Here’s how:

—Volunteer! Spend a few hours on Primary Day (Tuesday, March 21), gathering petition signatures. Go to illinoishealthcarenow.org to volunteer or call Ajitha Reddy at 312-315-1805.

—Bring friends!

—Give money! (MVP already did.) This is an all-volunteer effort, and they need money for printing, communications, staff, and things like that. Go to illinoishealthcarenow.org and help ‘em out.

Thanks for reading this, and for helping us support the cause of universal health care.