From Deseret News archives:
Lawmakers urged to focus on health care
Group asks Utahns to visit the Capitol to push for action
"Utah has a health-care crisis that's getting worse every year," said Bill Tibbitts, director of the Anti-Hunger Action Committee. "Our elected officials, like most people, are scared to deal with a problem when it gets really big."
The group invited all Utahns to visit the Capitol on Monday, the first day of the 2007 legislative session, from 1 to 3 p.m. to encourage legislators to look for real solutions to the growing number of uninsured and underinsured Utahns.
According to the Utah Department of Health, there are currently between 300,000 and 350,000 Utahns without health insurance. Participants in Monday's rally, however, cited as many as 450,000 uninsured Utahns.
"Adequate health care for everyone is not just an ideal but a moral imperative," said the Rev. F. Russell Baker of the Bountiful Community United Church of Christ.
States across the country have taken the initiative to revamp health care in their own regions, said Baker, beginning with Massachusetts' revolutionary model.
"The state of Utah needs to begin paying attention," he said.
Two lawmakers, both Democrats, attended Monday's rally and offered their support to the health-care cause.
"Each year in Utah, families walk a very fine and tight road of financial instability and insecurity," said Rep. Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake. A single mother for many years, the new Utah lawmaker said she understands full well the difficult choice between putting food on the table or taking your child to the pediatrician.
"In a year of record surplus, we have a moral responsibility to take care of these families and these children," Johnson said.
Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, hopes the upcoming session brings with it a consensus about the right for all Utahns to have access to health care.
"The issue of adequate health care spans the entire state," said McCoy, who is sponsoring legislation to amend Utah's constitution to include "basic, affordable" health care.
"Because health care is such a fundamental issue, to me it rises to the level of a human right," he said.
Monday's diverse crowd included advocates from organizations that have never before collaborated on any issue, such as Proyecto Latino de Utah and the local chapter of the Communication Workers of America.
Tibbitts said the groups have come together because of the sheer enormity of the issue. "We've realized, now, that this problem is so bad that we have no choice but to work together."
E-mail: awelling@desnews.com
