United Church Members Are Being Asked to Sign a Pledge for Medicare

TORONTO, March 25, 2014 /CNW/ - For 60 years the United Church of Canada has advocated in support of universal health care. Now, just days before a National Day of Action for a New Health Accord on March 31, the church is calling on its members to sign the Medicare Pledge launched by the Canadian Health Coalition, a public advocacy organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of Medicare.

The Medicare Pledge is part of an ongoing campaign spearheaded by the coalition, of which the United Church is a member. In part, the pledge says that "quality health care must be based on need, not ability to pay" and that we "must improve our public health care for everyone, instead of expanding private for-profit services that benefit only a few." So far over 10,000 Canadians and more than 100 organizations, including the United Church, have signed the pledge.

"Medicare is not something that Canadians should take for granted," says The United Church of Canada's Moderator, the Right Rev. Gary Paterson. "Signing the Medicare Pledge is one way to ensure that, for generations to come, the health care system that we have been privileged to enjoy is preserved and protected."

To sign the Medicare Pledge go to http://medicare.ca/medicare-pledge

Full text news release: http://www.united-church.ca/communications/news/releases/140324

SOURCE: United Church of Canada

Mary-Frances Denis, The United Church of Canada, 416-231-7680 ext. 2016, 416-400-7273 (cell), [email protected]