DAPAC.org

Approximately 46 million Americans do not have healthcare coverage — none at all. Additionally, many more are inadequately covered and at risk of financial crisis should a health emergency arise. The US spends far more on health care per capita than other industrialized nations, but the private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume one-third each dollar spent on healthcare.

We need representative who believe that the healthcare system can and should change. Americans are not helped by members of the Bush administration, like Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who said: it is “not realistic'' to have universal coverage by 2010.

Our common sense progressive representatives will go to bat for the citizens of this country. Both the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accounting Office know the country could save $100 to $200 billion each year with universal healthcare. That alone should be incentive enough to pursue a plan.

With the commitment and urgency of the progressive voice, we can speak louder than Republicans influenced by drug companies, insurance companies, and other health-care corporations. We need strong words to destroy the obstacles — real or not — so quality healthcare is a reality for 100 percent of Americans.