Letter: WNC should join health care discussion

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Revered TV news anchor Walter Cronkite once said, “America’s health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.” Our current patchwork of for-profit insurance companies make access to health care out of reach for millions of Americans.

Western North Carolina needs to join the national health care discussion. “Health Care for All — A Moral Obligation?” a faith-based symposium hosted by Health Care for All — WNC, will be held at the First Baptist Church of Asheville on Thursday, Oct. 12, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information: hcfawnc@gmail.com

Event organizers want to broaden the health care discourse to include the faith-based community. Five speakers will discuss how guaranteeing health care is rooted in their various spiritual perspectives: Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Ethical Humanist.

Health Care For All — WNC started, under a different name, in January. In order to focus their efforts on advocating for universal healthcare, they formed a local chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP.org) in August. PNHP has been pushing for universal health care since 1987. Health Care for All — WNC is made up of a mixture of medical and nonmedical members.

The Asheville group started an educational series in June with the presentation “Health Care for All — A Workable Solution” featuring six health care professionals describing the need for, and mechanisms of, an improved and expanded Medicare for all. In January 2018, they will present “Health Care for All — Benefits To Business.”

— Roger Turner,  Asheville;
and Frank Southecorvo, Asheville

 

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