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Wyoming. Vermont. South Dakota. North Dakota. Delaware. Montana. Rhode Island. Hawaii. New Hampshire. Maine. Idaho. Nebraska. West Virginia. New Mexico. Nevada. Utah. Kansas. Arkansas. Mississippi. Iowa. Connecticut. Oklahoma. Oregon. Kentucky. What does this list of 24 U.S. States represent? No, this is not a litany of key primary states for the next Presidential election. I've listed these particular States because when you add up the total number of people who live in all of these States, you come up with the number…46 million. Sound familiar? It should. You've been hearing this number a great deal on television and radio talk shows, in national trade journals, and in your local media. 46 million is the approximate number of Americans who have no health insurance. Imagine every man, woman and child living in those 24 States having absolutely no health insurance. Sounds incredible. Unfathomable. It could never happen in America, could it? It has. Look at it another way. If all 46 million uninsured Americans stood three feet apart from one another and joined hands, the unbroken connection of joined hands would stretch for more than 26,000 miles…more than once around the Earth! It's a number that should shock us all. It's unacceptable. And we must do something about it. Last year, Catholic Health East organizations provided over $400 million in charity care and community benefit support; much of this benefited people without any type of health insurance. Despite the valiant efforts of our facilities and other health care providers across the nation, there are still major disparities in access to health care between insured and uninsured Americans. According to a just-released Cover the Uninsured Week report, uninsured adults are nearly four times more likely not to see a doctor when they need to, compared to people with health insurance. The findings confirm that not receiving health care is taking its toll on millions of uninsured Americans. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an estimated 18,000 people die each year because they are uninsured and cannot get the medical care they need. As compared with the insured population, uninsured adults and children have more health problems and shorter life expectancies. May 1-7 has been designated Cover the Uninsured Week. Across our ministry, colleagues are getting involved in Cover the Uninsured Week activities and helping to raise public awareness about this issue. Paid advertising…op-ed pieces…manning information tables…sponsoring health fairs…hosting educational forums for colleagues and community members…even dedicating a television show to discuss issues related to the plight of the uninsured….these are just some of the ways that our RHCs and JOAs are getting involved. There is still time to get your colleagues involved in this nationwide effort. Urge them to contact their friends and colleagues about this important issue. Tell members of Congress that health coverage must be their top priority. Show your support for local Cover the Uninsured Week activities. You can do all of this, and more, by accessing the Cover the Uninsured Week web site at covertheuninsuredweek.org. Thank you to all of you throughout CHE who are helping to raise awareness on this most critical of issues. You ARE a transforming, healing presence in our communities.
Sincerely yours,
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