AARP Joins West Virginians' Campaign for a Healthy Future

Do you want to bookmark ?

AARP West Virginia is joining forces with several statewide organizations and the West Virginia legislature to explore ways to expand health care to all. It’s part of West Virginians’ Campaign for a Healthy Future.

The mission of the campaign is to obtain state legislation that significantly reduces the growth in health care costs and guarantees affordable access to high quality health care to every West Virginia resident.

The West Virginians’ Campaign for a Healthy Future was formed to provide a unified voice to everyone who seeks to lift the crushing burden of health cost increases from the backs of West Virginians, businesses and state and local governments. It is a broad alliance of West Virginia residents, businesses, labor unions, consumer advocates, and people of faith.

Governor Joe Manchin III has summarized our state’s health care crisis well: “We [West Virginians] suffer significantly higher rates of chronic disease and disabling injuries than the rest of the nation. Our state has among the highest rates of smoking and obesity in the country.” In 2006, over 245,000 of our citizens did not have health insurance, and many more had coverage too limited to meet their medical needs. As Governor Manchin has stated, “…the high costs of health care are burdening our families, businesses, and the state budget.”

As health costs rise three to five times faster than West Virginians’ wages or business revenues, our state’s health care crisis has sown deepening worry and insecurity among West Virginia families and businesses. Increases in health care costs have harmed job growth, business prosperity, and economic development.

The organizations have joined together in this campaign, pooling their time, resources, and the resolve of their members to help assure that West Virginia gets the job done. 

The coalition believes that West Virginia’s crisis of health care affordability can be solved if West Virginia enacts health care reform legislation that meets the following standards:

1. All West Virginians must have access to high quality health care coverage, without discrimination or exclusions based on income, medical condition, employment status, gender, age, geography or other factors.
2. Health care and coverage must be comprehensive and continuous, assuring that the medical and behavioral care needs of all West Virginians are met throughout all stages of life, from birth to death.
3. Comprehensive health care and coverage must be affordable to all purchasers: individuals, families, businesses, and government.
4. Wellness, preventive care, chronic disease management, and evidence-based best practices should become foundations of West Virginia’s health care system.
5. Financing of West Virginia’s health care must be a responsibility shared on a sustainable basis by individuals, businesses, and government.
6. The rising cost of West Virginia health care and coverage must be effectively contained.
7. The quality of health care must be continuously improved.
8. Health care reform in West Virginia shall not undermine existing levels or quality of coverage or care for anyone.

Learn more about the campaign online. http://www.wvhealthyfuture.com.