Bipartisan Coalition Launches in Pennsylvania, Delaware to Fight Looming Financial Crisis in Health Care
Chronic Disease Accounts for 7 in 10 Deaths and more than 75 Cents of Every Dollar Spent on Health Care in Pennsylvania and Delaware
Washington, DC (October 14, 2008) -- Leading experts and organizations in the health care, business, faith and labor communities came together today in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware to launch state chapters of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), a coalition committed to making the issue of chronic disease the key issue in health care reform. The PFCD is led nationally by Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS, the 17th Surgeon General of the United States (2002-2006) and Ken Thorpe, Ph.D., Chair, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a former White House health policy advisor.
In Pennsylvania, the PFCD has a distinguished panel of co-chairs:Â Jim Matthews, Montgomery County Chairman, Bill George, President AFL-CIO of Pennsylvania, Father Martini Shaw, African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Ken Trujillo, Chairman of Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Raul DeLa Cadena, MD & Frances Walker, Temple University School of Medicine Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter as honorary co-chair.
The PFCD Delaware distinguished co-chairs include: Basil Battaglia, Former Chairman Delaware GOP, Sam Lathem, President AFL-CIO of Delaware, Reverend Bob Hall, Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children & Families, Dr. Robert Laskowski, CEO of Christiana Care Health Systems, and honorary co-chairs Governor Ruth Ann Minner and Wilmington Mayor James Baker.
The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), and PFCD Executive Director Ken Thorpe warn that the U.S. government is ignoring an even larger impending crisis in the U.S. health care system.
"Right now, while everyone is looking at the economic downturn and the bailout, the same thing has got to be taken care of, and it's just as immediate, and that's the reformation of health care in America and dealing with chronic illness," said Thorpe.
"I realize there is some concern in some quarters that given the current economic state of our budget and overall economy that taking on health care may be too much. I would argue exactly the opposite. The bottom line is that failure to act on making health care more affordable both for private insurance and for Medicare is a recipe for long-term disaster. In fact, the economic downturn has made paying attention to the issue of health care reform in 2009 and even more important priority," Thorpe said.Â
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic diseases are responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths in the U.S. -- killing more than 1.7 million Americans every year. Chronic diseases are also the primary driver of health care costs, accounting for more than 75% of the $2 trillion dollars spent each year on health care in the United States.
Mayor of Philadelphia , Michael Nutter and leaders from such organizations as the AFL-CIO, Temple University and the Black Clergy joined together to launch the partnership in Pennsylvania.
Lieutenant Governor John Carney, and Mayor of Wilmington, James Baker and leaders from such organizations as the AFL-CIO, Nemours Health and Prevention Services, YMCA of Delaware, and the Delaware Chamber of Commerce joined together to launch the partnership in Delaware.
"People are angry and frustrated with the inactivity of health care reform -- we need a bipartisan approach and solutions to address this problem," said Thorpe. "I think making health care more affordable by reducing the prevalence of chronic disease and more effectively managing it is going to become center stage in 2009. As people look at the looming impact chronic disease has on the federal budget, on employers and on individual households they will realize that these problems are just too big to ignore."Â
About the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease
The PFCD is a national coalition of more than 120 patient, provider, community, business and labor groups, committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability, and rising health care costs in the U.S.: poorly prevented and mismanaged chronic disease.
The PFCD's mission is to:
- Challenge policymakers - in particular, the 2008 presidential candidates - to make fighting chronic disease a top priority and discuss how they will address it in their health care proposals
- Educate the public about chronic disease and potential solutions for individuals, communities, and the nation
- Mobilize Americans to call for change in how policymakers, governments, employers, health institutions, and other entities approach chronic disease
For more information about the PFCD and its partner organizations, please visit: http://www.fightchronicdisease.org.
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