Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410030041
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A rally organized by a coalition of human and social service entities in the Roanoke Valley was not deterred by lawmakers' declaration this week that health care reform was dead. If anything, it fueled their zeal.
"Health care reform isn't dead! We just have a lot of work to do," read a sign posted on the plaza's small stage.
"Congress says health care reform is dead. But many Americans need reform now to stay alive," read another.
Martin Jeffrey, community development and outreach director for Total Action Against Poverty, said organizers weren't taking a position on any particular proposal but simply were saying that reform was needed.
"Between now and the year 2000, we ought to make some significant changes in the way health care is offered," he said.
A reformed health care system must be universal, comprehensive and include portability of benefits and equal coverage for mental illnesses, Jeffrey said.
"It's an American issue. Nowhere in this country should anybody be without health care coverage."
Some of the estimated 60 people who attended the lunchtime rally spoke of their own plights and concerns.
"If I get sick, I lay down because I cannot afford to go to the doctor," said Karen Hall of Roanoke.
"We have a lot of trouble dealing with people with no insurance or inadequate insurance," said Samuel Rogers, a psychologist at Lewis-Gale Clinic. "We have trouble shutting our doors and saying, `We can't help you.'''
"Most of my time is spent cajoling doctors to accept children on Medicaid," said Laura Dearing, home-based health coordinator for TAP Head Start.
Ted Edlich, TAP's executive director, said it was important that the push for health care reform continue.
"People need to hear that there is concern," he said. "There is going to be growing concern about health care. One in six people in Virginia are without health care."
The absence of health care for low-income people puts them in a tenuous position, Edlich said.
"If you don't have good health care and you get sick, how can you keep up on the job?" he asked.
A steering committee has been organized in the Roanoke area to work to ensure that the health care reform voice is not lost, Edlich said.
by CNB