Rep. Shaffer joins health insurance coalition
14 02 08 - 13:36
Thursday, February 14, 2008 11:02 AM EST
LANSING - Cass County state Rep. Rick Shaffer announced Wednesday that Michigan will join a nationwide collaborative effort to bring health insurance and long-term financial security to the forefront of American political discussion.
"I am thrilled that Michigan is joining this very important fight," said Shaffer, R-Three Rivers.
"As a registered nurse, I have seen firsthand too many people who are going without health insurance in these tough economic days.
"It is a sad dichotomy that we live in a country that is considered a leader in the world's economy; some would refer to it as economic prosperity - and yet, we still have not been able to insure that every citizen has access to affordable health care.
"One of the barriers is because of the gridlock we see in state and federal government.
"In supporting the Divided We Fail coalition, I am happy to join a fight to find common-sense solutions to our health care access crisis like this and the effects on people's long-term financial security."
Organizations in Michigan that are taking part in the coalition include the AARP, Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan, Michigan Association of United Ways, Michigan Citizen Action, Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, Michigan Nurses Association, Michigan League of Human Services and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
"We must reach out and encourage a spirit of bipartisan cooperation on this issue, and ask our candidates in the upcoming elections to lay out their ideas for improving and creating access to health care coverage that will improve the quality of life for the people of Michigan," Shaffer said.
"With the kind of support that this campaign is demonstrating, I hope that in the end, those associated with Divided We Fail will be able to stand up and say 'united we succeeded.' "
Shaffer said that anyone wishing to learn more about Divided We Fail can visit http://www.DividedWeFail.com or http://www.aarp.com/mi.
Shaffer spoke at the Divided We Fail kick-off news conference in the Capitol rotunda Monday.
Divided We Fail is a nationwide collaborative effort to bring health insurance and long-term financial security to the forefront of American political discussion.
Shaffer was joined by Eric Schneidewind, president of the Michigan chapter of AARP.