Health Care Reformers Unveil “Health Care Harry”

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Eight-Foot Tall Interactive Character Shows What It Will Take to Fix Our Health Care

WISPIRG

La Crosse, WI, September 4th- Passersby in La Crosse’s Burns Park were greeted on Friday by an old childhood friend with a whole new set of maladies.

Health Care Harry, an eight-foot tall interactive character based on the Operation game’s “Cavity Sam” stood at Burns Park as health care advocates called for reform. Harry was subject to a number of serious “operations” as locals used giant tweezers to discover what was ailing him – and our whole health care system.

The character was created by Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG) to show what’s behind rising health care costs.

“Americans know costs are out of control,” said Shannon Nelson, “but what’s causing these skyrocketing premiums?  Healthcare Harry points the way.”

Health Care Harry has a red nose that lights up, and a whole host of maladies, ready for removal:

• Red tape is choking Harry, just like it ties down doctors and forces some to spend as much as 45 minutes on paperwork for every hour with a patient.

• Insurers might pull the rug out from under Harry: if he gets sick, they might decide to drop him to protect their profits.

• Drug companies pull the wool over his eyes, trying to keep doctors from doing research about whether the high-priced pills are really the best treatment.

• An ambulance stands ready to take him to the hospital for another expensive emergency – but not to get the tests and screenings that can keep him well.

• Last but not least, he has an empty wallet from paying for all of the above.

“Health Care Harry may look like a toy, but rising health care costs are no game,” said Nelson.

“Without reform, these problems will cause our premiums to double by 2016. We’re calling on Representative Ron Kind to come to Harry’s rescue by supporting efforts for reform in Congress. He could help make or break the push for change.”
 
“Our politicians aren’t the only ones discussing health care reform,” said Nelson, “The health care debate is happening around dinner tables, in board rooms, and beyond. We’re joining the tour with Healthcare Harry to foster that debate in America.”