UW-Madison medical students gathered on the steps of the Capitol Wednesday, demanding that legislators address the healthcare crisis in Wisconsin and ensure equal access for all citizens.
Meghan Pesko, a UW-Madison medical student and coordinator for the Health Care for America Campaign, said it is crucial to raise awareness and turn the focus to the inequalities in access to the healthcare system.
'The main reason we're here today is to talk about improving access to medical care,' Pesko said. 'As med students, we see enough to recognize a problem with the system. We see firsthand the inequalities that prevent us from doing our job.'
Pesko said access to the health care system is crucial and is an important issue that needs legislative attention.
She added that UW-Madison medical students advocate two pieces of legislation in particular, including the Fair Share for Health Care and the Action Plan for Affordable Health Care.
According to Peshko, Fair Share for Health Care was drafted in part as a response to Wal-Mart's healthcare policies and would mandate large corporations employing more than 10,000 people to provide adequate health insurance for their employees. She said the Action Plan for Affordable Health Care would require the state to form a committee dedicated to passing a healthcare financing plan by Jan. 1, 2008.
'Health care is a problem, and we need to make it a priority,' said Branden Pfefferkorn, a UW-Madison medical student and co-president of the UW chapter of the American Medical Student Association.
First-year UW-Madison medical student Diane Reis said it is important to fund health care because uninsured or underinsured patients are more expensive for the state.
'Because we don't insure, their ability to work is rapidly declining, and that decreases tax revenue,' Reis said.
She said the governor's health care initiatives are a good start, but any package that stops shy of ensuring coverage for all citizens is not going to make the cut.
'The most vulnerable slip trough the cracks,' Reis said.
