Sign below to show your support for this statement.

Senator Barack Obama has called for passage of universal health care as one of his most important legislative priorities if elected president. Senator Hillary Clinton also called for passage of universal health care as one of her most important legislative priorities if elected president.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, at its June 2008 national meeting, passed a resolution in support of single-payer health care. A recent study found that 59 percent of physicians support national health insurance. Thirty-five state AFL-CIO organizations support single-payer health care.

Today, 47 million Americans have no health insurance, and another 50 million are under-insured. The Institute of Medicine tells us that 21,000 people die each year because of a lack of health insurance, and the United States ranks 37th in overall health care indicators in the world.

Leaders of American businesses cite rising health care costs as a crisis that is undermining American business's ability to compete with other countries that have lower health care costs.

Fifty percent of all bankruptcies are due to unpaid medical bills, and most of those who filed for bankruptcy had health insurance at the time of filing. An estimated 58 million adults are at risk of incurring medical bills they may not be able to afford, including 17.6 million privately insured adults.

For the Platform to be adopted at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, we support a plank calling for our nation to enact universal health care that will:

* Guarantee accessible health care for all.

* Create a single standard of high quality, comprehensive, and preventive health care for all.

* Allow freedom of choice of physician, hospital, and other health care providers.

* Eliminate financial barriers that prevent families and individuals from obtaining the medically necessary care they need.

* Allow physicians, nurses and other licensed health care providers to make health care decisions based on what is best for the health of the patient.

The first 2008 Democratic National Convention delegate to become a signer of this statement was Rep. John Conyers.

If you are not a delegate to the DNC Convention, please sign below.

If you are a delegate, please follow this link to sign the letter: http://pdamerica.e-actionmax.com/takeaction.asp?aaid=3410

Also, please consider becoming a signer of the Healthcare NOT Warfare petition--part of the long-range effort to make "guaranteed health care for all" a practical reality: https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/default.asp?formid=healthpet

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2008 Democratic National Convention