obama-biden plan for aapi health care

Yesterday on a conference call with reporters, AAPI leaders outlined how the Obama-Biden campaign will address the health insurance challenges of many AAPIs and discussed how an Obama-Biden administration will help millions of AAPIs looking for affordable health care. Here's the press release:

AAPI Leaders: Obama-Biden Plan Would Provide Health Care to Community

Over 2 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are currently uninsured

Chicago, IL - On a conference call with reporters on Monday, October 13, two Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) leaders outlined how the Obama-Biden campaign will address the health insurance challenges of many AAPIs and discussed how an Obama-Biden administration will help millions of AAPIs looking for affordable health care.

Congressman Mike Honda, Chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, spoke honestly about the challenges many people in the AAPI community face as it relates to health care. As Congressman Honda noted, the stakes for reforming America's broken health care system are particularly high for AAPI families. With more than 2 million AAPIs currently uninsured and nearly 12 percent of AAPI children without coverage, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are committed to providing affordable, accessible coverage to the AAPI community. "Under the Obama-Biden plan, if you like your current health insurance, nothing changes, except your costs will go down by as much as $2,500 per year. If do not have health insurance, you will have a choice of new, affordable health insurance option," said Honda.

Unlike Barack Obama and Joe Biden's commitment to the AAPI community to provide affordable health care at the end of their first term in office, John McCain offers a starkly different approach. John McCain has opposed opportunities to insure more AAPIs. "Senator McCain's has continually exercised poor judgement in denying more AAPIs to access of affordable healthcare," said Dr. Jeannette Takamura, former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services under President Clinton. In the US Senate McCain voted against the expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program – which would provide many AAPI children with health insurance.

Senator Obama realizes that a major part of the reason AAPI's lack insurance is due to language and cultural barriers. Lack of appropriate language services result in impaired exchange of information and lower level of preventive care. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will expand outreach and educational efforts to improve the language and cultural skills of hospitals to better care for the growing Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Obama will also make sure health care providers - doctors, nurses, and hospitals - all have real experience with the communities that they are directing making language access that more critical.

For more information on the Obama-Biden plan to provide health care for the AAPI community, download the fact sheet PDF here.