Consumer Reports Health Starts Coast to Coast Health Reform Tour
Consumer Reports Health began its Cover America Tour, a national RV tour, on May 28 to listen to Americans talk about their health care experiences from the New York headquarters of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports Health. The tour will last four months, with crew members posting videos of people talking about the challenges they've experienced and blogging with updates at the site www.coveramericatour.org.
The site lets users submit their stories and find out how they can join others to support health care reform. "There's plenty of evidence that our health care system is broken," said Meg Bohne, campaign organizer for Consumers Union. "But it's important to remember that there are real lives and families behind all the statistics and data that point to the need for reform. The Cover America Tour aims to put a face on the problems Americans are experiencing and to make sure their voices are heard as the debate over health care reform heats up."
Consumers Union has already collected thousands of stories for this effort. It will join community leaders and activists in states all over the country during this tour to organize public events where people can share their experiences and call for change. A map showing the tour route and schedule of events is available at the Web site.
A 2007 Consumer Reports survey found 65 percent of Americans fear losing their job-related health coverage and 68 percent worry about being bankrupted by medical bills following a serious illness or accident. Thirty-five percent of those responding to the survey said they skipped or postponed medical care to control expenses in the previous year.