(WASHINGTON, October 14, 2009) -- Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, issued the following statement on the Senate Finance Committee's approval of the America's Healthy Future Act.

Statement:

"The Senate Finance Committee’s vote yesterday approving the America's Healthy Future Act is an important step toward securing comprehensive health care reform that focuses on accessible and affordable medical care.  As employers, nonprofit organizations have seen the cost of health care coverage skyrocket, which has further challenged their ability to support their employees and the critical services those employees provide our communities.  Nonprofits, particularly those that deliver health and human services, also incur substantial costs from serving the over 46 million Americans who do not have health care coverage, as well as the millions of other individuals and families whose insurance is insufficient to cover the costs of care and prevention.

"The bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee, and the ones approved this summer by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and by three committees in the House of Representatives, all incorporate many priorities of the nonprofit community, including providing assistance to help low-income individuals and families secure health insurance, and prohibiting denial of coverage or increased rates for pre-existing conditions. In addition, both Senate bills include important provisions to help small nonprofit and small business employers provide health coverage to their employees.

"Resolving the significant differences between these five will require a major commitment by all parties, and it is critical that these efforts move ahead without delay. We look forward to working with the senators and representatives to ensure that the final legislation that emerges from Congress will address the needs for affordable health care of the nearly 13 million employees of nonprofit organizations and will provide significant help for the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured."

Learn more about the importance of health care reform to the nonprofit and philanthropic community: http://www.independentsector.org/programs/gr/HealthCareReform.htm

###

Independent Sector is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of approximately 550 charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs, collectively representing tens of thousands of charitable groups in every state across the nation. Its mission is to advance the common good by leading, strengthening, and mobilizing the nonprofit and philanthropic community.