"Rhode Island needs a health care solution that removes the private interests of insurance providers and profit motives from the equation and one that focuses on keeping families healthy and productive from pre-natal care through end of life care, said Teresa Tanzi, Executive Board Member for RI National Organization for Women. "We need comprehensive, high-quality, and consistent care for all to be our priority if we want to see our nation regain its competitiveness."

Download the full report, “Next Step: Health Care: To Fix Rhode Island’s Economy, We Need To Fix Health Care Now”

The report details that:

· From 2000 to 2007, health insurance premiums in Rhode Island increased by more than 83% while median yearly wages increased only 16.8%.

· The Ocean State's median yearly wage in 2007 was only $30,566 but the average health care premium for a family was $12,662.

· In 2008, the average premium for family coverage in Rhode Island was $13,983. By 2016, if the system does not change, that number is expected to be more than $26,000.

"Corporate interests profiting off our current broken health care system are going to fight vigorously to oppose change. They'll claim we can't afford reform and use everything in their arsenal to either maintain the status quo or push through some token measures masquerading as real reform," said Ivette Luna, Lead Organizer for Ocean State Action. "Families and businesses have had enough. The numbers don't lie. The costs are staggering. We need Congress to join with President Obama and support a national health care solution this year."

President Obama and 184 Members of Congress, including Congressmen Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin support the Health Care for America Now principles for reform and recognize the urgency of broad, comprehensive health care reform this year.

As President Barack Obama said on February 10, 2009, "[T]here are some people who are making the argument that, well, you can't do anything about health care because the economy comes first. They don't understand that health care is the biggest component of our economy and, when it's broken, that affects everything."

"It is time for a new direction that recognizes that cost shifting is not a substitute for comprehensive reform," said Patrick Quinn, state director for the Service Employees International Union. "Politicians and employers have been demanding that workers pay a greater portion of their premiums, but health care costs continue to rise. How can we ask workers to pay more for less coverage when insurance and hospital executives pay themselves millions of dollars per year and we've never focused on controlling the rate of increase in health premium costs?"

Today's report release is part of an unprecedented grassroots campaign that launched July 8, 2008 in Washington, DC and 52 cities across the country. Health Care for America Now will keep up the drumbeat during the April recess with 50 events including 100 Members of Congress. HCAN is also planning a large-scale event in Washington, DC in June as part of the campaign to win quality, affordable health care for all in 2009.

Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is made up of more than 725 organizations representing 30 million people dedicated to winning quality, affordable health care we all can count on. We are doctors, nurses, community organizations, small business owners, faith-based groups, people of color, seniors, children's and women's rights groups, and labor unions fighting to achieve a national solution to our health care crisis in 2009.

Download "Next Step: Health Care" online here: www.healthcareforamericanow.org/nextstep

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Participating organizations include: Urban League of RI, Gray Panthers of RI, Planned Parenthood of RI, RI Medical Society, RI Parent Information Network, Mental Health Association, NEA of RI, New England Health Care Employee's, District 1199 SEIU, RI State Nurses Association, National Association of Mental Illness of RI, RI Foster Parent Association, USAW, Venezuelan Association, AFL-CIO, Mental Health Consumer Advocates of RI, UFCW, Save our Mental Health Services Coalition, Wisdom, Empowerment, Health, Education, Advocacy, & Liberation (WEHEAL), RI National Organization of Women, Ocean State Action