HealthActionNM.org: Health Care For All

Health Care for All... Together, We Can!

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
Health care in New Mexico is in a deepening crisis: almost one out of four New Mexicans is uninsured; one out of five New Mexico children has no health insurance; and most uninsured or underinsured adults are working people. In the past year alone, insurance premiums rose between 16 and 30 percent. Co-pays and deductibles are increasing and pharmaceutical drug costs are rising.

These growing costs are making it more difficult for New Mexico businesses, municipal governments, and schools to provide and pay for health care coverage for their employees. Furthermore, these costs, place increasing burdens on publicly financed programs such as Medicaid and county indigent funds. Too often, New Mexicans on a fixed income have to choose between healthcare and basic necessities of life because of the significant increases in the cost of health care.
The current system of fragmented coverage, only for designated population groups, results in a largely inequitable system. Making health care coverage available to all would solve that problem, reduce overall costs, and, in addition, improve productivity and the quality of life of all our residents. The Health Care for All Campaign believes, in the future,

HEALTH CARE IN NEW MEXICO MUST
• Be an individual right for all people living in New Mexico regardless
of ability to pay.
• Be the shared responsibility of the government, employers, pro-
viders, and individuals to ensure rights for all.
• Ensure that containing costs, eliminating waste, and maximizing
efficiency of resources is primary and, in all cases, puts quality of
health care first.
• Provide universal and equitable coverage for everyone in both rural
and urban settings.
• Be comprehensive, including the choice of a full range of services
and providers in order to promote and maintain physical, behavioral
and mental health.
• Provide high quality and appropriate care in a timely manner.
• Be affordable without causing financial hardship on individuals and
families.
• Be publicly accountable to the communities it serves, to providers,
and to the entities which provide its funding.
• Provide culturally-specific, culturally-diverse, and linguistically-
appropriate services.
• Ensure a strong public health system organized to integrate the
health care delivery system with community, preventive and social
services, and maintain a safe and healthy environment for all.
• Simplify administration, so that individuals and providers are
not burdened with administrative and logistical obstacles to the
receipt or provision of care.

Health Care for All Steering Committee Organizations:
• New Mexico Public Health Association
• Health Care for the Homeless
• Human Needs Coordinating Council
• New Mexico Voices for Children
• The Center on Law and Poverty
• St. Joseph Community Health
• American Medical Student Association-NM
• League of Women Voters-New Mexico
• New Mexico Conference of Churches
• National Association of Social Workers-NM
• Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry-NM
• Health Action New Mexico