Washington, D.C. – USAction today called on Congress to move swiftly and surely toward passage of quality, affordable health care for all, especially in light of the number of people losing their jobs and their health care every day.

Tuesday night, President Obama served notice that – despite rumors to the contrary – he intends to make health care reform a priority in this year’s budget. “[W]e must have quality, affordable health care for every American,” he said in his nationally televised address to Congress. “Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait and it will not wait another year.”

USAction Program Director Alan Charney said the President’s words should serve notice to those who did not think he would prioritize the issue this year. “It is crystal clear that this is the year we pass comprehensive health care reform,” Charney said. “Congress should move without delay to approve a guarantee of quality, affordable health care for all. We are pleased that the Senate Finance Committee convened a hearing as early as this morning on this topic.”

USAction and its affiliates and allied partners in 25 states are partners in Health Care for America Now, the nation’s largest health care campaign. USAction is a founder and co-chair of the coalition – one of the largest single-issue coalitions in modern history.

“We challenge Congress to resist the lure of those who would resist the clarion call for reform – including the insurance and pharmaceutical industries,” Charney said. “Our families’ health must come first. And as we fix our broken health care system, we also will take a major step forward toward revitalizing our struggling economy. We cannot repair our economy without addressing health care.”

USAction’s work on health care is part of its ambitious Next New Deal agenda. The Next New Deal, which USAction released late last year, calls for durable, lasting economic gains for families, businesses and the nation as whole by making health care and education more affordable, creating a new, clean energy economy and strengthening our work force.

USAction and TrueMajority.org build power by uniting people locally and nationally, on-the-ground and online, to win a more just and progressive America. We create the nation's leading progressive coalitions, making democracy work by organizing issue and election campaigns to improve people's lives. Members of the media who wish to interview TrueMajority.org Online Director Matt Holland should contact David Elliot at (202) 607-7036.