Ensuring access to affordable, quality health care is the very definition of a public good—a service that can’t be adequately provided by private interests but that is necessary to benefit everyone.
Universal access to affordable, effective, comprehensive health care is necessary to allow all people to fulfill their potential. Comprehensive health care includes primary, acute and long-term care as well as mental health and substance abuse treatment.
To ensure access, health services should be provided where an individual’s needs can best be met. Our country can only maintain and improve the physical and mental health of its population with affordable health care that covers the entire life span, from prenatal to end-of-life care. Public health services, which protect us all, require robust federal support.
Life or Death
Health insurance coverage is literally life or death for many. Alison L. from Pennsylvania writes about her daughter:
“I had to think about what we would do if it came down to choosing between paying for life saving care for [our daughter], or keeping a roof over our heads.”
Kristen W. from Utah has a chronic autoimmune disease. She says:
“[Lupus] attacks my kidneys, and the treatment I receive prevents my immune system from attacking my kidneys. If I go off this treatment, my immune system would continue to attack healthy tissue, and I would die.”
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Attribution
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Responding to the Coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic is a generational threat, and its impacts will be felt by all of us. But know this: Our work for peace and justice will go on. Here’s how we will continue our advocacy in the face of COVID-19 and how you can join us.
FCNL's Principles for a Just Health Care System
We seek a world where all people have adequate resources to maintain their health, where health care is supported by the federal government, and where health outcomes are considered in all matters of public policy.
Continuing the Push for a Just Health Care System
At the height of the congressional attempt to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2017, FCNL joined with many advocacy groups to protect access to health care.