WASHINGTON  -  U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) will speak to the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Breakfast at the First Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau on Thursday morning, August 23, at 8:00 a.m. CDT.  Emerson will address health care issues being dealt with by Congress this year.

“Health care is a subject that acutely affects every American family from a financial standpoint as well as a matter of well-being.  With the technology and the advanced care today’s medicine can provide, it is important that we protect and advance every American’s right to access a system that will care for them when they are ill,” Emerson said. 

Emerson’s efforts on the issue of health care in Congress range from increasing utilization of affordable generic alternatives to name-brand prescription drugs to an effort supported by major U.S. employers to dramatically improve access to health care insurance.  Her legislation to remove barriers to competition in the name-brand pharmaceutical markets recently won the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

“High costs of medicine and lack of access to insurance are problems that touch small businesses, senior citizens, and even compassionate, faith-based organizations.  It’s important to remember that the problem touches all of us, and we all have to work together to find solutions,” Emerson said.  “There is a role for every organization in our community to play as we work to lower the costs and increase the availability of health care services.”

There are approximately 100 churches within the Presbytery.

WHO: U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson
WHAT: Speaking to the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Breakfast
WHEN: THURSDAY, August 23, 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. CDT
WHERE: First Presbyterian Church, 235 Broadway, Cape Girardeau