Deliver health care reform

On 2/11, PPNEO’s Director of Community Services, Taba Aleem, had her letter to the editor titled, “Deliver health care reform,” published in the Akron Beacon Journal and on Ohio.com. It addressed health disparities in health services for women and minorities.

Editor:

President Obama said he will not walk away from health care. I implore Congress to not walk away. Do not walk away from the millions who need access to health care.

Getting health care done right means not only keeping all the provisions that extend affordable health-care coverage to millions of women but also guaranteeing access to affordable preventive screenings for cancer and other life-saving tests. Emergency rooms are a poor substitute for the preventive health care that comes with access to health insurance.

As the director of community services at Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio, I have seen how critical it is for every woman to have good healthcare coverage, including comprehensive reproductive health care.

My sister is a breast cancer survivor which increases my risk for breast cancer. I am lucky that my employer provides quality health insurance and I can access what, for me, are routine mammograms and breast exams. Such care is not routine for every woman.

In fact, primarily due to lower rates of job-based coverage, African American women are much more likely than others to have limited access to prenatal care, experience higher rates of miscarriage and have increased rates of babies with low birth weights.

The fight for health-care reform has never been closer to success or more urgent. Passing reform would mean lowering health-care costs and guaranteeing quality health care for millions of American women and families. Please do not walk away now.

Taba Aleem
Akron