A different take on the health care reform bill.
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: CCHCC <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 9:11 AM Subject: [cchcc-l] SUBJECT: Health Reform - TAKE ACTION TODAY! To: [email protected] Dear Friends, We at Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) have been closely monitoring the progress toward passing health reform legislation, and we want to provide you with some important updates, and ask you to take action to help push health reform forward. Please read below for more information on: 1. HEALTH REFORM UPDATES; 2. HOW THE 15TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS WILL BENEFIT FROM HEALTH REFORM; AND, 3. HOW TO TAKE ACTION TODAY. ****************************** 1. HEALTH REFORM UPDATES Health reform is moving forward! There are several new important developments: A. The timeline has changed a little bit -- Last week we were told to expect a vote on health reform this week, on Thursday. However, now the vote may not come until this weekend. The reason for the change in the timeline is that the Congressional Budget Office is finalizing its analysis of the health reform package, and Congressional leaders hope to allow 72 hours to review the final legislation before the vote. B. The process for passing health reform has changed a little bit, but don't let it throw your focus! The House is now planning to get the health reform vote on the Senate bill, and the budget reconciliation bill, through a more streamlined process called "deeming." This would involve voting on a resolution that would simply "deem" the Senate health reform bill passed in order to allow unhappy House members to avoid a direct vote on the Senate bill, and then the House would proceed to a separate vote on the more popular changes to the Senate bill. This would essentially allow the House to pass the Senate bill, plus the budget reconciliation bill (which includes important "fixes" to the Senate bill) as a package and much more efficiently than having to vote on the Senate bill separately, wait for the President to sign that, and then go back and vote on the budget reconciliation. Critics are focusing on process and crying "foul" about deeming. However using the deeming process is not unusual, and it has been used by both parties, and the end result is the same: health reform is created by passage of the Senate health bill, plus important changes to that bill enacted by passage of the budget reconciliation bill. Critics would rather focus on process in order to avoid focusing on the content of the legislation. C. A big victory toward the health reform legislation is Rep. Kucinich's announcement yesterday that he has switched his vote and WILL support health reform! He recognizes this health reform package as an important first step toward important improvements to our nation's health care system. ************************* 2. HOW THE 15TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS WILL BENEFIT FROM HEALTH REFORM The House Committee on Energy and Commerce just released a report that shows how each Congressional District will benefit under health reform. This analysis examines the benefits of the legislation in the 15th Congressional District of Illinois, which is represented by Rep. Timothy V. Johnson. In Rep. Johnson’s district, the health care reform bill will: - Improve coverage for 430,000 residents with health insurance. - Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 173,000 families and 13,200 small businesses to help them afford coverage. - Improve Medicare for 106,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole. - Extend coverage to 24,500 uninsured residents. - Guarantee that 8,100 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage. - Protect 1,200 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs. - Allow 72,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans. - Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 8 community health centers. - Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $48 million annually. - There are 8 community health centers in the district that provide health care to the poor and medically underserved. Nationwide, the legislation would provide $11 billion in new funding for these centers. If the community health centers in the district receive the average level of support, the 8 centers will receive $10.4 million in new assistance. ************ 3. TAKE ACTION! MAKE TOLL-FREE CALLS FOR HEALTH REFORM! Families USA, a national consumer health advocacy organization, is providing advocates from all around the country with a toll-free number you can use to call legislators in Washington, DC to advocate for passage of health reform. Please take some time to make these important phone calls. THE TOLL-FREE CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD NUMBER IS: 1-866-922-4970 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CALL: You will hear a brief pre-recorded message from Families USA and then you will be connected to an operator. Tell the operator the name of the Representative or Senator you're trying to reach, and you will be connected to their office. Once you reach their office, you will leave a message with a staffer (or if after hours, on an answering/voicemail system). WHO TO CALL: We are asking advocates to focus their attention on the House members right now, since they need to first pass the Senate health bill. If you're an Illinois resident, please feel free to call your Representative, as well as other Illinois representatives and tell them that you're calling because Illinois needs health reform! There are three Illinois Democratic Representatives who are undecided on health reform or who are pledging to vote no: Lipinski, Bean, and Costello. We urge you to give them a call, even if you are not in their district. Of course, if you know someone in their districts, urge that person to call them. The Congressional Republicans have vowed to vote against health reform, but if you have time and energy, you can call and let Rep. Tim Johnson know how you feel. Congressman Tim Johnson - Champaign area 15th District Congressman Daniel Lipinski - west/southwest suburbs of Chicago Congresswoman Melissa Bean - northern suburbs of Chicago Congressman Jerry Costello - Metro East area of Illinois SUGGESTED MESSAGE: "I am calling today to urge __________ to support health care reform and move forward with the legislative process. Illinois residents will benefit from health reform, and I want you to vote yes, for all Illinois residents. Thank you." ****************** We are in the home stretch in getting health reform passed. Please don't ease up now! Now is the time to push! As always, we at CCHCC thank you for your support and your activism! Best wishes, Claudia Lennhoff, CCHCC Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Champaign County Health Care Consumers 44 E. Main Street Suite 208 Champaign, IL 61820 Phone: (217) 352-6533 Fax: (217) 352-9745 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.healthcareconsumers.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Support health care justice - donate to CCHCC today! Visit our website to make a tax-deductible contribution today. http://www.healthcareconsumers.org/index.php?action=Donation _______________________________________________ To manage your subscription to the CCHCC email list, please click the link below. cchcc-l mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shout.net/mailman/listinfo/cchcc-l -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
