Are you with us for a guarantee of

quality, affordable health care for all?

• We need coverage that meets our families’ health care needs
and is affordable, based on a sliding scale.
• We need government to be an advocate for us - to set and enforce the rules so insurance
companies put our health care before their profits.
• We need to be able to keep the health care that we have and have the choice of a public
plan so we’re not left at the mercy of the same private insurance companies that have gotten
us into this mess.
• We need quality, affordable health care we all can count on.

Health Care for America NOW (HCAN) is a

national grassroots campaign organizing millions
of Americans to win a guarantee of quality,
affordable health care for all. We’re bringing
together community organizers, nurses, doctors,
small business owners, faith-based groups,
organizations of people of color, students, seniors
and many more who believe it’s time we have a
system that provides quality, affordable health care
for every person in America. We invite
organizations who support our Statement of
Common Purpose and our passion for winning
health care justice in America to join the campaign.
Small Businesses United for Health Care.
Small businesses are the backbone of New York’s
economy, and the heart of communities across our
state. We create jobs, deliver essential goods and
services, and build strong communities. But our
current health care system is not serving small
businesses. We stand for comprehensive health
reform that achieves the “4 C’s”

www.hcanny.org
Please find the HCAN Statement of Common Purpose and the Small Business United for Health Care 4 C’s on the back of this page.
By signing this document, your group will be joining both the national and state effort to win Quality, Affordable Health Care for All.

Business Name: ____________________________ Business Type:________________________

Business Owner: ________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________ City: __________________ Zip: ___________

Phone: __________________________________ Email: ________________________________

Website: __________________________________________________ No. of Employees: _____

Are you willing to share your perspective on health care with the media? yes / no
Statement of Common Purpose The “4 C’s” to Make Health
We believe that all of us benefit from healthy communities, where we Care Work for All of Us:
all have access to affordable, quality health care from a provider of
our choice, at the time we need it, at a cost we can afford. Our

Affordable Costs.
mutual goal is affordable, quality health care for everyone in
America and for our nation.

Our current health care system in America is not affordable for

families, businesses or government. We need an American solution
to secure our families’ health and a healthy economy. All of us,
individuals, employers and government have a shared responsibility
to realize comprehensive reforms in our health care system.
Our government’s responsibility is to guarantee quality affordable
health care for everyone in America and it must play a central role in
regulating, financing, and providing health coverage by establishing:
It’s not right that small businesses pay more for
less in health care. We need affordable,
predictable costs we can plan and budget for.
And we need to level the playing field so small
businesses can compete with large corporations
that currently can offer better benefits for less.

• A truly inclusive and accessible health care system in which no

one is left out.
Guaranteed Coverage.
• A choice of a private insurance plan, including keeping the
insurance you have if you like it, or a public insurance plan Everyone should have good health coverage,
without a private insurer middleman that guarantees affordable whether you run a small business or a Fortune
coverage.
• A standard for health benefits that covers what people need to 500 company. You shouldn’t have to give up
keep healthy and to be treated when they are ill. Health care your health care to start a new business or
benefits should cover all necessary care including preventative change jobs.
services and treatment needed by those with serious and chronic
diseases and conditions.
• Health care coverage with out-of-pocket costs including Shared Commitment.
premiums, co-pays and deductibles that are based on a family’s
ability to pay for health care and without limits on payments for
covered services. We can make health care work if everyone
• Equity in health care access, treatment, research and resources to pitches in. As small business owners, we’re
people and communities of color, resulting in the elimination of willing to contribute, but we can’t go it alone. It’s
racial disparities in health outcomes and real improvement in
health and life expectancy for all.
got to be a commitment shared with government
• Health coverage through the largest possible pools in order to and employees.
achieve affordable, quality coverage for the entire population
and to share risk fairly.
Real Choices.
• A watchdog role on all plans, to assure that risk is fairly spread
among all health care payers and that insurers do not turn
people away, raise rates or drop coverage based on a person’s Everyone should have a choice between private
health history or wrongly delay or deny care. and public health insurance plans. If you like
• A choice of doctors, health providers and public and private
plans, without gaps in coverage or access and a delivery system
what you’ve got, you should have the choice to
that meets the needs of at-risk populations. keep it. For small businesses that don’t have real
• Affordable and predictable health costs to businesses and choices now, offer the choice of a public health
employers. To the extent that employers contribute to the cost of insurance plan. This would give us some
health coverage, those payments should be related to employee
wages rather than on a per-employee basis. leverage, encourage competition among insurers
• Effective cost controls that promote quality, lower administrative to drive down costs, and provide a guaranteed
costs and long term financial sustainability, including: standard backup.
claims forms, secure electronic medical records, using the public’s
purchasing power to instill greater reliance on evidence-based
protocols and lower drug and device prices, better management
and treatment of chronic diseases and a public role in deciding
where money is invested in health care.