Laura
01-13-2010, 08:34 AM
ACTION ALERT: Final push for better final health care reform bill in Congress
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:29:16 -0500
Dear Friends and Supporters:
As you know, both the House and Senate have now passed major health care reform bills and the leaders of both chambers are now working out the differences between their two bills. After many weeks and months, we are heading into the final days of this current 2009-10 round of reform, and a final bill is expected very soon.
Now is the time for a final push to make sure this bill is as good as we can make it. This week may very well be the last chance.
In the end, the final bill will not be perfect, but it will do many good things for millions in the short-term, and will provide a new platform upon which our nation, and particularly states, can move forward in the effort for comprehensive, quality, affordable health care for all. Our work will not be done in total, but we will have new opportunities and tools to advance toward our longer-term goal, and we will keep fighting to finish the job in the future.
Here's the key issues that health reform advocates are seeking to advance right now, given what's in the current bills:
* Implementing reforms as soon as possible -- earlier than 2013 or 2014
* A new public health insurance option as an alternative to the private insurance market
* A national health insurance "exchange", in addition to allowing states to do their own
* Strong provisions to make health insurance both affordable to obtain, and affordable to use -- including low premium cost limits, low out-of-pocket cost limits, and high actuarial values for insurance plans
* Strong Medicaid provisions to protect low-income people
* Fair financing of reforms through tax surcharges on wealthy people, and not excise taxes on comprehensive health insurance plans
* Strong requirements that employers provide coverage to their workers
* Strict regulation of private insurance (in many ways) -- including the repeal of anti-trust exemptions
* Inclusion of immigrants in new reforms
* Coverage of comprehensive reproductive health care services
* Spending what it takes to do health care reform right -- no arbitrary limits (e.g., $900B over 10 years)
* Supporting states-in-the-lead like New York for what we've already done, and to allow us to keep going farther/better than federal reform
* Support for community-based non-profits to undertake public education campaigns and provide consumer assistance counseling
WHAT YOU CAN DO -- NOW!
1. Call YOUR OWN member of Congress and Senators Gillibrand and Schumer to express your own opinions on health care reform and what you want to see included in the final bill: 877-323-5246 (special toll-free line provided by the AFL-CIO.)
2. Stay in the fight and keep fighting (however you're doing it.) The vested special interests are not giving up either trying to stop health care reform outright or shape it to enhance their profiteering. They're not giving up until the bitter end, and so neither can we. Otherwise, they'll prevail at the end of the day and gain momentum into the future. We can't let that happen. We have to blunt their efforts now as best we can, and take the momentum for ourselves to carry on past this cycle of reform and onto what comes next.
Thanks for all you do in the fight for health care for all in New York and across America -- spread the word!
Mark Hannay
Director
Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign
One Hudson Square
75 Varick Street, Suite 1404
DC 1707 AFSCME
New York, NY 10013
212-925-1829
212-925-0806 (fax)
metrohealth@igc.org
www.metrohealthcare.org
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:29:16 -0500
Dear Friends and Supporters:
As you know, both the House and Senate have now passed major health care reform bills and the leaders of both chambers are now working out the differences between their two bills. After many weeks and months, we are heading into the final days of this current 2009-10 round of reform, and a final bill is expected very soon.
Now is the time for a final push to make sure this bill is as good as we can make it. This week may very well be the last chance.
In the end, the final bill will not be perfect, but it will do many good things for millions in the short-term, and will provide a new platform upon which our nation, and particularly states, can move forward in the effort for comprehensive, quality, affordable health care for all. Our work will not be done in total, but we will have new opportunities and tools to advance toward our longer-term goal, and we will keep fighting to finish the job in the future.
Here's the key issues that health reform advocates are seeking to advance right now, given what's in the current bills:
* Implementing reforms as soon as possible -- earlier than 2013 or 2014
* A new public health insurance option as an alternative to the private insurance market
* A national health insurance "exchange", in addition to allowing states to do their own
* Strong provisions to make health insurance both affordable to obtain, and affordable to use -- including low premium cost limits, low out-of-pocket cost limits, and high actuarial values for insurance plans
* Strong Medicaid provisions to protect low-income people
* Fair financing of reforms through tax surcharges on wealthy people, and not excise taxes on comprehensive health insurance plans
* Strong requirements that employers provide coverage to their workers
* Strict regulation of private insurance (in many ways) -- including the repeal of anti-trust exemptions
* Inclusion of immigrants in new reforms
* Coverage of comprehensive reproductive health care services
* Spending what it takes to do health care reform right -- no arbitrary limits (e.g., $900B over 10 years)
* Supporting states-in-the-lead like New York for what we've already done, and to allow us to keep going farther/better than federal reform
* Support for community-based non-profits to undertake public education campaigns and provide consumer assistance counseling
WHAT YOU CAN DO -- NOW!
1. Call YOUR OWN member of Congress and Senators Gillibrand and Schumer to express your own opinions on health care reform and what you want to see included in the final bill: 877-323-5246 (special toll-free line provided by the AFL-CIO.)
2. Stay in the fight and keep fighting (however you're doing it.) The vested special interests are not giving up either trying to stop health care reform outright or shape it to enhance their profiteering. They're not giving up until the bitter end, and so neither can we. Otherwise, they'll prevail at the end of the day and gain momentum into the future. We can't let that happen. We have to blunt their efforts now as best we can, and take the momentum for ourselves to carry on past this cycle of reform and onto what comes next.
Thanks for all you do in the fight for health care for all in New York and across America -- spread the word!
Mark Hannay
Director
Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign
One Hudson Square
75 Varick Street, Suite 1404
DC 1707 AFSCME
New York, NY 10013
212-925-1829
212-925-0806 (fax)
metrohealth@igc.org
www.metrohealthcare.org