Background
The West Virginians’ Campaign for a Healthy Future was formed to provide a unified voice to everyone who seeks to lift the crushing burden of health cost increases from the backs of West Virginians, our businesses and our state and local governments. We are a broad alliance of West Virginia Residents, businesses, labor unions, consumer advocates, and people of faith. We are united by a shared challenge and committed to a common mission.
Governor Joe Manchin III has summarized our state’s health care crisis well: “We [West Virginians] suffer significantly higher rates of chronic disease and disabling injuries than the rest of the nation. Our state has among the highest rates of smoking and obesity in the country.” In 2006, over 245,000 of our citizens did not have health insurance, and many more had coverage too limited to meet their medical needs. As Governor Manchin has stated, “…the high costs of health care are burdening our families, businesses, and the state budget.”
As health costs rise three to five times faster than West Virginians’ wages or business revenues, our state’s health care crisis has sown deepening worry and insecurity among West Virginia families and businesses. Increases in health care costs have harmed job growth, business prosperity, and economic development in our state. Again, our Governor summarizes the issue well: “We’re not just unhappy if we’re not healthy. We cannot compete if we are not healthy. We cannot attract new businesses. We cannot retain our college graduates, and we cannot sustain a strong economy.”
West Virginia stands at the threshold of an historic opportunity to make our health care system work, again, for all West Virginians.
Together we can secure the promise that all of us—individuals, families, businesses, local and state government—will have access to high quality health care we can afford. It may not be possible to restore the lost lives, diminished quality of life, or economic losses suffered by West Virginians in a health care system that is not working as it should, but we can repair our broken system by enacting the health care reform West Virginians need for a healthy future.
Our organizations have joined together in this Campaign, pooling our time, resources, and the resolve of our members to help assure that West Virginia gets the job done.