Divided We Fail Pushes to Keep Health Care Reform as a Top Priority for Congress and the New Admi...( Divided We Fail Holds Rare Town Hall ...),Health

Divided We Fail Holds Rare Town Hall Meeting With U.S. Senator Arlen Specter on the Urgent Need to Fix Rising Health Care Costs

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AARP Pennsylvania, Business Roundtable, National Federation of Independent Business, and the Service Employees International Union held a town hall meeting today on the need for health reform with U.S. Senator Arlen Specter in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center. While in Philadelphia, Senator Specter spoke with constituents on the prospects for bipartisan action on America's health care problems under a new Administration and Congress.

"We have long struggled to adequately cover all Americans with health insurance, and I am working in a bipartisan fashion to reform and enhance our current market-based health care system. I find these town hall conversations to be very helpful and provide a strong basis for moving forward on this important subject," says Senator Specter.

With the recent passage of the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), it is critically important that health care reform remains on the agenda for the 111th Congress. Today's town hall participants expressed their views on how rising health costs are affecting their families, businesses, and communities. "We are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. As wages tighten and unemployment rises, soaring medical costs are squeezing individuals, families, businesses, and the nation as a whole," says Estella Hyde, AARP Pennsylvania State President.

As the nation continues to experience economic woes, AARP remains hopeful that acts of Congress like the recent passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 brings the nation a step closer to health care reform. The new legislation contains many provisions which AARP believes are paramount to promoting the foundation for me
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