On behalf of the nation’s mayors, U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran today commended President Barack Obama, the House of Representatives and the Senate HELP Committee for taking a bold step towards passing comprehensive and transformative health care reform legislation.
“Working families are struggling during these difficult economic times because they are not able to afford health insurance and, for many, losing a job means losing their benefits. The recent legislation approved by the Senate HELP Committee and the House bill introduced yesterday are major steps toward offering Americans quality, affordable health care, changing the way of how care is administered in this country,” said Conference CEO and Executive Director Cochran.
In Providence at The Conference of Mayors’ 77th Annual Meeting, mayors adopted a comprehensive health care reform policy position that fully supports the healthcare reform principles outlined by President Obama as well as prevention and wellness.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Conference’s Task Force Chair on Healthcare Reform said, “I applaud the House Democrats for introducing a national health care reform bill that includes a public option. The only way to achieve true reform is by driving down the cost of health care and developing a public option that competes with private insurance. Through our Healthy San Francisco Universal Health Care Program, over 42,000 San Franciscans now have access to health care, proving not only that a public plan is possible, but that it works. I will do everything I can as chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors National Health Care Reform Task Force to build support for this bill and President Obama’s efforts.”
“The strong focus on public health, prevention and wellness in both bills is a good sign that healthcare reform is moving in the right direction,” stated Cochran. “The Conference of Mayors remains committed to work with President Obama and Congress to ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care.”
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,139 such cities in the country today, each represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the Mayor.
