The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

As the House and Senate begin final negotiations on health care reform legislation, a coalition of civil rights groups has sent a letter (PDF) to congressional leaders and President Obama urging them to support changes in the final bill that will ensure affordable, quality health care for all American families.

The letter — signed by leaders of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, the Campaign for Community Change, the United States Student Association, and Powerpac.org — states that:

"We are deeply concerned about several aspects of the current Senate bill and therefore, the final outcome of health reform policy, including the taxing of health benefits, a lack of shared responsibility to ensure employers are contributing to their workers' health insurance, and the absence of a public option to keep insurance companies honest and keep insurance costs down."

Full text of the letter is available here (PDF).