Labor, Consumer, and Healthcare Groups Statewide Healthcare Hotline: Effort will assist in gathering thousands of healthcare stories.
California Chronicle, April 25, 2007
Labor Desk
http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=25361
LOS ANGELES – As the California Legislature begins a series of hearings to deliberate on major healthcare reform bills, two coalitions dedicated to ensuring that all Californians are heard and that reforms benefit consumers launched a drive to gather thousands of healthcare stories through a statewide hotline. The launch of the healthcare 60-second story hotline was tied to actions in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and statewide.
“People throughout the state are having more and more difficulty getting the healthcare they need to thrive,” said Reshma Shamasunder, California Immigrant Policy Center Director, whose organization is a member of both It’s Our Healthcare and Having Our Say coalitions. “It’s critical that all consumers have a voice in this discussion for healthcare reform. Now, there’s a way for each person and every community to be heard.”
The toll-free story-collecting hotline is 800-977-2067.
“We’re trying to encourage the public and our leaders to open the door for real dialogue. Our message to our elected leaders is: It’s our healthcare, so you better listen to us,” said Shamasunder. “But all of us, our neighbors, and our families also have a responsibility: It’s our healthcare, so we have to speak up! Otherwise, we might not like what we end up with.”
More information is available at the It’s Our Healthcare website at www.itsourhealthcare.org
Around fifty people gathered in Huntington Park, a city in the Southeast Los Angeles region that is one of the most underserved healthcare regions in the state, to share their healthcare stories and concerns. Participants included healthcare advocates, community members with healthcare stories, and local elected officials including Huntington Park Mayor Ofelia Hernandez and Maywood Mayor Pro-Tem Felipe Aguirre.
“As a council member, my job is to listen, and I’ve increasingly heard my constituents talk about their problems with healthcare - about families facing financial and medical crisis and about people who have no good choices,” said Huntington Park Mayor Ofelia Hernandez. “That’s why we’re working in the 7-sister cities of the Southeast Los Angeles area to support the It’s Our Healthcare campaign. Our communities have great needs, and those needs have to be considered and addressed.”
The event was organized jointly by the It’s OUR Healthcare campaign, which includes groups such as the AARP, ACLU of Southern California, ACORN, the California Labor Federation, California Partnership, Consumers Union, the National Council of La Raza, Planned Parenthood, the Service Employees International Union, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and dozens of other groups, together representing more than 9 million Californians and Having Our Say, a statewide coalition that includes the California Immigrant Policy Center, Latino Issues Forum, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Korean Resource Center and others, working to ensure communities of color have a voice in the health care reform debate.