A delegation of state lawmakers, representing 700 of their colleagues across the nation, delivered letters to the Obama administration and Congress on Thursday, June 18, supporting comprehensive health care reform, including a public plan option, affordability protections, and shared employer responsibility for premiums.

In a meeting with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and White House Director of Health Care Reform Nancy Ann deParle, the lawmakers announced the formation of the White House Working Group of State Legislators for Health Reform. State Senator Jack Hatch from Iowa was named chairman of the working group. Hatch has been a strong champion of quality jobs for direct-care workers in his state, leading efforts to pass a health care demonstration project for direct-care workers.

The state lawmakers held a press conference, hosted by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, in which they spoke to the desperate need for health care reform at the state level.

Many of the members of the delegation have led efforts in their states to expand health care coverage, but this piecemeal approach has not effectively stemmed the tide of rising costs. State budgets are crumbling under the burden of an unsustainable health care system, the legislators said, and without national reform, the situation will continue to deteriorate.

The state lawmakers offered to share their expertise and work with the White House and Congress to pass comprehensive reform this year.