HUNTINGTON, W.V. – As West Virginians prepared to head for the polls, a national bus tour aimed at mobilizing voters around the need for comprehensive health care reform traveled to Huntington, W.V., today to spotlight the plight of workers suffering from insufficient health coverage.

“The Road to American Health Care” bus tour is sponsored by SEIU, the nation’s largest union of health care workers. The bus is traveling across the country on its way to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, stopping in communities small and large to highlight real people who are struggling to keep up with rising health care costs.

Perry Bryant, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, said today that skyrocketing costs are forcing more and more employers to stop offering health insurance.  With 47 million Americans uninsured, Bryant noted that “the most rapid growth isn’t among low-income people, it’s among working people and middle-income Americans.”

Not having health insurance isn’t simply inconvenient, he said. “It has serious health consequences.”

“The Road to American Health Care” is part of SEIU’s sweeping campaign to elect a new President and Congress committed to fixing health care - and then make sure those newly elected leaders immediatelypass comprehensive legislation that makes quality health care affordable for everyone.