For Immediate ReleaseOctober 12, 2000
Contact: Ed Fishel Phone: 410/706-3801 Pager: 410/471-1735[email protected]
Ramsay to Chair National Effort on Health Coverage
University of Maryland Baltimore President David Ramsay, DM, DPhil has been elected chair of the Association of Academic Health Centers (AHC) and will lead that organization's demand to presidential candidates and American people to include 43 million uninsured citizens in a revised health care system.
Speaking after his election, Ramsay says, "I am embarrassed by colleagues who want to continue talking about how we are going to solve this problem. Just get on with it. The economy is good and we have a presidential election coming up. The time will never be better.
"We can't even afford to wait six months to think about it," Ramsay continues. "By then, the policies for the next four years will be set. We spend twice as much of our Gross National Product on health care as Great Britain or Canada and they have better care. We either have to do something about it or stop saying that we have the best health care in the world.
"This ideal is affordable and well within the Balanced Budget Act. Many people are eligible for health care coverage and do not know it. We expect them to figure it out on their own. That is backwards."
Ramsay has served as president of the state's public health sciences and human services campus for six years.
Editors: Attached are two news releases from the Association of Academic Health Centers concerning the Ramsay election and the call for action on universal access to health care.
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http://www.oea.umaryland.edu/news/
The Baltimore campus of the University of Maryland is home to the dental school, graduate school, and schools of law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work. It is the founding institution of the University System of Maryland.
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