My local organization, the Cayuga Community Network, helped sponsor a come-together last week for the discussion titled “Health Care Reform: A Primer for Action.” We heard from our colleagues' stories that reinforced the fact that our health care system is in a shambles. As a (sometimes vocal) member of the audience, listening to what I believed to be “the same old song” for the need for health care reform in the United States, I was pleasantly surprised to hear of more than the rhetoric of previous years. I heard about a grass roots movement from citizens who showed a positive alternative to what we have today. Currently, one third of the American population is uninsured, and insurance costs have increased an annual average of 11 percent in the last five years. Although the exact structure of a new health care system is up for discussion, a universal health care system that is run like most others in the developed world where everyone is included, is the solution to the problem.

It was also presented that the change to a universal system will save millions of dollars and allows us all to have the same high quality of care.

Although the number attending the meeting was small compared to the number of our neighbors and friends caught in a financial and health predicament that is all too universal, it's a start. And it is happening everywhere across the country. After listening, I now believe that it is “different this time.” I hope so. Because the system is definitely broken, much more so than in the past. I also hope that this movement continues to grow to where there is no stopping it.

No doubt the effort to make the change to a universal health care system will take a lot of energy, that change will only come from the lawmakers' constituents (us voters), who tell their representatives at all levels of government that either change will occur or our elected government will have many new faces come election time.

I also heard last night a mantra over and over that change can occur with a huge push from each of us (which is most of us) who faces health care concerns. The biggest obstacle will be to overcome the huge financial assistance given our elected officials by other stakeholders of the health care system, the ones with the deep (and full) pockets. That especially includes the pharmaceutical companies, the insurance companies, and others who continue to make billions of dollars from the status quo.

So the time has come for all of us to jump on the bandwagon to effect change that must come if our country is to survive and compete in the world economy. Keep an eye out for ways to help in getting the work done. It might be a letter, joining a committee, or attending a rally. A good place to start is an Ithaca group at www.ushealthcarereform.com. Write your elected officials today and tell them what I just told you. Prove that it really is different this time.

Knight is executive director of Cayuga Health Association Inc.