Members of the national health care reform coalition — Health Care for America Now — are launching a $40 million campaign to push for quality, affordable health care for every American.
Monica Sandschafer, the state director for Arizona ACORN, who hosted a press conference July 8 at the Capitol, said they plan to use the $40 million to educate people on the issue and mobilize them to push for legislative changes in 2009.
“This movement is born out of a reality that people all around the country are already experiencing,” she said.
That reality, Sandschafer said, is one where people are “at the mercy of the private health insurance industry that is charging us more, giving us less and putting company profits before our health.”
HCAN, a coalition of various organizations across the country, including ACORN, Campaign for America’s Future, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the AFL-CIO, is pushing for expanded health-care options. In their model, people would have the option to keep their current private insurance plan, pick a new private plan or join a public health insurance plan.
“In our vision of health-care reform, the government works for us, setting and enforcing rules so that insurance companies put our health before their profits,” Sandschafer said. “In our vision, people have a choice so that they are not at the mercy of the private insurance industry. In our vision, quality goes up and cost goes down.”
Sandschafer said the movement is about their principles of choice and quality, affordable health care, and that HCAN does not support a particular presidential candidate or proposed health-care plan. 
“This movement is about principles and any legislation that would be passed by the president and the Congress in 2009,” she said.
They plan to spend $25 million of the $40 million on paid media, such as online and for cable TV and newspaper advertisements. They will also hold press conferences in 44 states, hold community organizers in every state, and reach out to voters with more community events, fliers, e-mails, and by talking with them and the members of the organizations involved in the coalition.
“Basically what we want to do is connect up with all of the individuals in the organizations that already want this… and bring everybody together and then use that united effort to move the candidates and elected officials to be willing to vote for this,” Sandschafer said. ?