Major National Organizations Mobilize Communities of Color for Final Push on Health Care Reform

 MAJOR NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS JOIN FORCES

 TO MOBILIZE COMMUNITIES OF COLOR

FOR FINAL PUSH ON HEALTH CARE REFORM

Groups Seek to Ensure Voices of People of Color are Heard As Debate Enters Critical Phase;

TV, Print Ads to Run in Four Key States

WASHINGTON --The country's largest African-American and Latino organizations will announce they are joining forces with other major national civil rights and grassroots organizations to mobilize the nation's 100 million people of color for a final push in support of universal health care reform.

The organizations -- the NAACP National Voter Fund, the National Council of La Raza, the Campaign for Community Change, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the United States Student Association -- will work together to make certain that the voices of people of color are heard, and heeded, as the health care reform debate enters its final, critical days.

The groups will release television and print ads in English and Spanish that will run initially in four states with sizable African-American and Latino populations, part of a grassroots effort to ensure that members of Congress appreciate the importance of reform to the people of color they represent.

The latest U.S. Census estimates confirm that there are more than 100 million people of color in the country, 33 percent of the population. In several key states, the percentage of people of color is even greater, approaching 40 percent in states such as Florida and Louisiana. These constituencies comprise the building blocks for a new majority that can reshape the policies and priorities of the country.

Recent studies have shown that the impact of inequality in the health care system falls most heavily on communities of color. The organizations will call for reform that addresses that inequity and creates a comprehensive, affordable system covering all U.S. residents.

The briefing to announce the initiative will include:

·         The screening of television and print ads to run in four key states

·         A discussion of new research on the impact of health care on communities of color

·         A panel discussion of the stakes and what reform legislation should look like, with:

o        Benjamin Todd Jealous, board member, NAACP National Voter Fund

o        Janet Murguía, president and CEO, NCLR

o        Deepak Bhargava, executive director, CCC

o        Wade Henderson, president and CEO, LCCR

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