Birmingham pastor lobbies for health care

October 21, 2009  |  Birmingham Daily News

WASHINGTON - The pastor of Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham on Tuesday joined religious and labor leaders from around the country lobbying Congress to make health care affordable for all.

Calling it a moral issue and basic human right, the members of the coalition said they are especially concerned about lower-income families who don't have health insurance provided by an employer and can't afford to buy it on their own.

"In many ways, the system has failed us," said the Rev. Al B. Sutton Jr. of Birmingham. "Everybody, I believe, deserves affordable health care - the rich, the poor and everyone in between."

Sutton, in an interview after a press conference on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, said he had a young, unemployed female parishioner tell him recently that her attempt to buy health insurance on her own was declined because of a pre-existing condition.

"I'm seeing that over and over and over again," Sutton said. "People who need health care can't get it."

The PICO National Network of activists argued Tuesday that whatever health care reform package emerges from the negotiations on Capitol Hill should limit premiums and out-of-pocket costs for people who can least afford them. Mary Orndorff --