Academy Adds Voice to Growing Health Care Campaign

The AAFP has joined AARP's "Divided We Fail" campaign, becoming one of the newest members of a movement to make access to affordable health care and long-term financial security key issues in the 2008 elections.

In early 2007, AARP launched Divided We Fail, along with Business Roundtable and the Service Employees International Union. In November, the National Federation of Independent Business, an association that represents about 600,000 members, joined the campaign as the voice of small business.

During the past few months, several more organizations have joined Divided We Fail, including the Academy.

"Everyone understands the present health care system needs to change," said AAFP President Jim King, M.D., of Selmer, Tenn. "But it is going to take all of us working together to make sure those changes occur. We will continue to work with organizations, like AARP, who share the same goals we have to make sure all citizens have adequate health care."

The AAFP and AARP both believe all Americans deserve affordable, quality health care, said family physician T. Byron Thames, M.D., of Orlando, Fla., a member of AARP's board of directors. Thames is a past AAFP director.

Many Americans are just one serious illness away from bankruptcy, according to Thames. "There are over 46 million uninsured Americans, and many others are underinsured," he said. "There are so many people who really don't have the financial background to sustain a loss that can come from health care."

Divided We Fail chose Champ -- a purple half-elephant, half-donkey figure -- as its mascot, signifying bipartisanship and a willingness to work with lawmakers and organizations from both sides of the political aisle.

"We wanted something that would get attention," said Thames about the mascot. "The problem is the (country) is divided -- we have found no middle ground."

Many Republicans and Democrats are reluctant to work together on the issue of health care, fearing one party might gain an advantage over the other and ultimately take credit for solving the nation's health care crisis, Thames said.

"We want this to be an American victory," he stressed. "We want both Republicans and Democrats to solve these two problems."

Divided We Fail has taken out paid advertisements on radio and television and in newspapers and other print publications to bring attention to the dual issues of health care affordability and long-term financial stability. The campaign also is encouraging Divided We Fail volunteers to attend presidential debates and other candidate-related activities to ask the candidates how they plan to deal with the two issues if they are elected.

Divided We Fail will call on the next presidential administration to form a coalition within its first 100 days to start mapping out a plan for resolving the two issues. Thames is quick to point out that Divided We Fail does not expect the next president or the next Congress to solve the problem within the first year in office. However, Divided We Fail wants the federal government to start addressing the two issues and to eventually agree on bipartisan solutions.

At the same time, Divided We Fail is not pushing any one approach. "We are not out there promoting one form of a health care system over another," Thames said. "We are not saying we have the answers to the problem. But we are saying we want bright people in the field to work with Republicans and Democrats in a nonpartisan way to solve these two problems."