American Heart Association

Health care. Meaningful health care. Affordable health care. These are central to the American Heart Association's call to both of the current Presidential candidates.

Via MarketWatch:

The American Heart Association today unveiled six principles on healthcare reform as the presidential candidates begin a series of debates, the first scheduled for Friday, Sept. 26, at the University of Mississippi. With a vision of a stronger healthcare system, the association's 2008 Statement of Principles on Health Care Reform outlines critical issues that must be addressed to ensure high-quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.

"We are committed to approaching healthcare reform from the perspective of the patient," said Daniel W. Jones, M.D., Immediate Past-President of the American Heart Association and Vice Chancellor of the University of Mississippi. "The goal is to create a dialogue among our elected officials, particularly focusing on the needs of individuals who have or are at risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke."

And a lovely list of principles it is indeed:

• Everyone in America should have meaningful, affordable health care coverage
  
• Benefits of a preventative nature should be an essential part of that coverage
• Everyone should have high quality and affordable health care
• All health care disparities based on gender, race, or geographic location must be eliminated
• National prioritization of biomedical and health services
• The pool of health care workers needs to be expanded through a substantial, sustained program of support for medical and clinical education/training

The MarketWatch press release has a lot more on the subject to help provide some context. Click the "SOURCE" link below for more information.

SOURCE: "American Heart Association Calls on Presidential Candidates to Adopt the Organization's New Principles on Healthcare Reform" 09/24/08
photo courtesy of CarbonNYC, used under its Creative Commons license