Health Care for America Now, a coalition seeking quality, affordable health care for all Americans, will hold a press conference tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the State Capitol as part of a 45-state launch of a grass-roots awareness campaign.

The coalition, which plans to spend $25 million in a national media campaign through Election Day, includes community action groups such as the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN), organized labor groups that include the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and other groups such as Planned Parenthood and the National Women’s Law Center. Groups in 44 other cities, including 36 other state capitals, also will host kickoff events Tuesday. In Iowa, the Iowa Citizen Action Network (ICAN) leads more than a dozen community activist, labor and other grass-roots organizations in the campaign.

“Our goal is to get as many people active and interested in health-care issues as we can,” said Charlie Wishman, an ICAN organizer. Though a portion of the national advertising budget has been allocated to each state, the group’s efforts in Iowa will focus on town-hall meetings, house parties and other grassroots events, he said. “We’ve already talked with a number of activists in our network,” Wishman said. The campaign will work to extend progress made recently by the Legislature in passing a health-care reform bill, he said, as well as address health insurance companies’ profits, he said.

Other local groups involved in the initiative are the Des Moines University chapter of the American Medical Student Association, Communication Workers of America, Every Child Matters Iowa, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church, Iowans for Health Care, Iowa Federation of Labor, MoveOn.org, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Working Families Win.

Dan Homan, president of AFSCME Council 61, Sarah Swisher of SEIU, Betty Ahrens of ICAN and Dr. Selden Spencer, an Ames physician, are scheduled to speak during the event, which will be held on the West Capitol Terrace. In case of rain, the event will be moved to the west wing of the Capitol rotunda.