Title
To declare April 27 through May 3, 2008 as Cover the Uninsured Week in the City of Columbus.
Body
WHEREAS, 1.3 million Ohioans, including 114,000 adults and 20,000 children in Franklin County do not have health care coverage, and
WHEREAS, two working age Ohioans die each day for lack of coverage, and
WHEREAS, eight out of 10 people who are uninsured are in working families, and
WHEREAS, Ohio no longer offers medical assistance to low-income non-elderly adults without children at home, unless they are totally and severely disabled, and
WHEREAS, the State Children's Health Insurance program and Medicaid are successful programs that provide cost-effective coverage that save both lives and taxpayer dollars through preventive care and early treatment, and
WHEREAS, insured children are twice as likely as uninsured children to get the medical care they need, when they need it, and
WHEREAS, Ohio's leaders are on the verge of taking meaningful action to find common ground between providers, consumers, businesses, and insurers to create a sustainable plan that will assure affordable, accessible, high quality health coverage to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans, and
WHEREAS, we strongly urge Governor Strickland and Ohio's legislative and administrative leadership to take all necessary steps to reach affordable, accessible and adequate health coverage for all Ohioans; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS: That we do hereby declare April 27 through May 3, 2008 as Cover the Uninsured Week in the City of Columbus and that we do recognize the urgency to solve one of America's greatest problems and believe that we should begin by ensuring that all of America's children are covered.