To the editor:

The time is now for all of us interested in universal, comprehensive, affordable health care coverage to get involved — even as our governor has!!

H.R. 676, now introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, would cover each of us for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including substance abuse), vision care, hearing services including hearing aids, chiropractic, durable medical equipment, palliative care, and long-term care.

HR 676 will end deductibles and co-payments, will save billions annually by eliminating the high overhead, glitsy ads and exorbitant profits of the private health insurance industry and the pharmaceutical giants, and will keep the insurance companies from intervening in our doctor-patient relationship, and from NOT covering people with pre-existing conditions, who need health care the most!

HR 676 has been endorsed by 485 unions in 49 states, as well as by groups like the local KS Health Care for ALL, grassroots organizations that have sprung up all over our nation, in an effort to finally make quality health care affordable and available to us all!

Join in the urgent call to our legislators, our new secretary of Health and Human Services and our president for affordable, comprehensive, universal health care for us all.

Hilda Enoch,
Lawrence