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Medical student group advocates health insurance for everyone The MUSC chapter of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), in conjunction with South Carolinians for Universal Health Care, will sponsor a rally for Cover the Uninsured Week at 12:15 p.m. April 17 at the Horseshoe.   Cover the Uninsured Week is a yearly event, founded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an organization dedicated to health care for all. Observances around the country focus attention on the 47 million Americans who lack health insurance.   “Health professions students have a lot of responsibilities to balance so making time for civic involvement a challenge,” said Rachel Rosansky, a leader in the MUSC chapter of AMSA. “But the factors that attract students to health careers lead them to care deeply about the problem of the uninsured and we want to act on it. That’s why our goal is to educate students about the problem and the simple ways they can get involved.”   The MUSC rally will include music and speakers, including Lynn Bailey, a leading South Carolina health economist and someone who is uninsured herself. “Right now in South Carolina, how you get health care is your personal responsibility, and you’ve got to figure out how to pay for it yourself if you don’t have insurance,” said Bailey.   Nearly 700,000 South Carolinians, or 1 in 6, do not have health insurance, one of the highest rates in the nation. Bailey adds, “Being uninsured is a middle class issue.”   An Institute of Medicine study showed that more than 18,000 Americans die each year because they do not have health insurance. The United States is the only developed country in the world that does not ensure health care coverage to all its citizens. Concerns about access to health care are at an all-time high during the current presidential election.   For information on Cover the Uninsured Week, go to http://www.covertheuninsuredweek.com.   For information on the rally, contact Carolyn Thiedke, M.D., at 883-9583 or e-mail carolyn.thiedke@gmail.com.     Friday, April 11, 2008 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.