AHA urges candidates to embrace reform

OXFORD, Miss. – The American Heart Association last week unveiled six principles for health care reform and urged the presidential candidates to embrace them in conjunction with the series of debates that began on Friday at the University of Mississippi.
“We are committed to approaching health care reform from the perspective of the patient,” said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, immediate past president of the 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.”
The association’s statement includes these principles:
• All residents of the United States should have meaningful, affordable health care coverage.
• Preventive benefits should be an essential component of meaningful health care coverage.
• All residents of the United States should receive affordable, high-quality health care.
• Race, gender and geographic disparities in health care must be eliminated.
• Support of biomedical and health services research should be a national priority.
• The U.S. health care work force should continue to grow and diversify through a sustained and substantial national commitment to medical education and clinical training.

The complete statement is to be published this week in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. For more information about the American Heart Association’s reform efforts, go to www.heartsforhealthcare.org

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