Statement on the Senate Finance Hearing on Health Reform

Feb 25, 2009: Today, the Senate Finance Committee will convene a hearing to examine health care reform from a budgetary perspective. On behalf of the 53 million Americans we represent, the members of Divided We Fail - AARP, Business Roundtable, NFIB and SEIU - commend Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the committee for moving forward expeditiously and keeping health care reform at the forefront of the congressional agenda.

We agree with President Obama that given the current economic challenges, it has never been more important for us to invest in building a better, stronger, more efficient health care system. We must focus on making health care more affordable and accessible for individuals, businesses and society to sustain improvements in health and our financial security for future generations. Doing so will not only help save lives and money, and improve the safety and delivery of care; it will also help fuel our economic recovery. We applaud Chairman Baucus and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for working to identify responsible financing options for health reform, which will yield system-wide improvements and savings well beyond the federal spending scored by CBO that also need to be considered.

It's time to bring U.S. health care into the 21st century; Divided We Fail is committed to continuing to work with the American people, businesses, non-profit organizations and elected officials to find bipartisan solutions that ensure affordable, quality health care for all.