Rapid Response Team – Weekly Calls to Congress

The Senate Finance Committee bill that was passed yesterday is unacceptable. It falls short on making insurance affordable to America’s families, gives employers a free ride, taxes higher cost health insurance benefit plans and does not create meaningful competition in the insurance market with a strong national public health insurance option. The foundation of health care reform must be built on a public health insurance option and measures to make health care more affordable.

On Monday, the leading health insurance industry trade group showed its true colors by releasing a bogus report threatening to raise rates if health reform passes. The weak Senate Finance Committee bill will allow them to carry out that threat. This is just another reason why we need the final reform bill to have a public health insurance option and regulations that reign in the insurance industry.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will pull together representatives from the Senate Finance and the Senate HELP Committees to negotiate the two Committee bills into one health reform proposal to be brought to the Senate Floor for a vote in a couple of weeks. The Senate HELP Committee bill contains a public option and addresses many of our concerns. So we still have a good chance to win. So let’s keep working together. We need people to call Senator Harry Reid!

Please Call Senator Reid Today!

Call 202.224.3121

Tell Senator Reid: We need your leadership to ensure that the Senate reform bill contains a public option to keep insurance companies in check. It should not tax and punish families who are lucky enough to have good health benefits – taxing benefits is no way to fund health care! We would also like to see our Senator Schumer on the Senate health reform Conference Committee – We trust our Senator to fight for real reform that contains a strong public option and does not tax health care benefits.

Senate Finance Committee fails to pass a Public Option. Disappointing but not Surprising!

Senate Schumer led a valiant fight for a Public Option in the Senate Finance committee yesterday. He held strong defending the need for a public health insurance option – to assure the private health insurance would have to compete forcing them to lower cost and provide better care. Senator Schumer amendment for the Public Option was defeated by a 10-13 vote.

We must thank Senator Schumer for all his efforts to win a public option in the Senate Finance Committee – he was under tremendous pressure to abandon the public option – but he held strong and continued to fight on. He is still committed to continue to take the lead to assure a public option is in the Final Senate Bill. (Remember, the Senate Finance Committee is more conservative than the Senate as a whole. And 4 out of 5 Congressional committees with jurisdiction over health care reform have passed a public option). Senate Finance is expected to pass its final proposal out of its committee by the end of the week’

Senator Reid will pull together representative from the Senate Finance and the Senate HELP committee to negotiate the two committees bills into one Health Reform Proposal to be brought to the Senate Floor for a voted around the week of Oct 12th. The Senate HELP committee bill contains a public option. So we still have a good chance to win. So let’s keep working together to win this one!

Thank Senator Schumer Today!

Call 1-877-264-4226

* If you are having trouble getting through on this number, try this alternative number 1-888-436-8427

Tell our Senator Schumer : Thank You! Thank you! Thank You! Thank you for your leadership on the public health insurance option. Thank you for being on our side instead of the big insurance industry. We are with you as you take our fight for the public option to the Senate Floor.

Rapid Response Team – Weekly Calls to Congress

Today, Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus of Montana released his long-awaited plan for health care reform, and it simply doesn’t meet our standards for reform.  It vastly reduces the number of people that would be subsidized for their health care, leaving all too many New Yorkers out, subsidizing people at only 300% of the federal poverty level (about $32,000 for a family of one; $55,000 for a family of 3).  We doubt that is adequate for families in Montana, but it certainly isn’t adequate in states like New York, with much higher costs of for health care and other necessities! And Sen. Baucus refuses to include a public health insurance option, which is vital to keeping private health insurance companies honest and keeping their high premiums down.

As Richard Kirsch, former Executive Director of Citizen Action and now National Campaign Manager of HCAN put it, “The Baucus bill is a gift to the insurance industry that fails to meet the most basic promise of health care reform: a guarantee that Americans will have good health care that they can afford. The Baucus bill would give a government-subsidized monopoly to the private insurance industry to sell their most profitable plans – high-deductible insurance – without having to face competition from a public health insurer.”

Please have everyone on your list call Senator Schumer today at 1-877-264-4226 with this message:

I’d like to call Senator Schumer to thank him for his support for health care reform with a strong public option.  We’d also like Senator Schumer to please tell Senator Baucus that New York, as a high-cost state, needs subsidies for coverable up to 400% of poverty at a minimum, and a strong public health insurance option.

In a state with extremely high costs for health insurance and other necessities, it is vital for New York’s working families for the final bill passed by Congress to provide subsidies for purchasing health insurance up to 400% of poverty at a minimum. We must also have a public health insurance option as an alternative to private health insurance to ensure accountability, affordability and choice. It is therefore critical that Senator Schumer continue to be a champion for a strong public health insurance option and for strong affordability standards in the final legislation passed by Congress.

Please have everyone on your list call Senator Schumer today at 1-877-264-4226 with the message above.

Rapid Response Team – Emergency Call this weekend

On Wednesday, September 9th, President Obama is scheduled to deliver a national address to a joint session of Congress on Health Care Reform. The President needs to hear from us before his speech on Wednesday.

We must let him know that we do not want him to back away from supporting a strong public option – co-ops and triggers are not a real public option or a compromise that we can live with! Keeping a public option as part of health care reform is essential to keeping private insurance companies honest – making sure that everyone in America has access to quality, affordable coverage.

Health Care Can’t Wait!

Call President Obama Today! Please Call NOW!

202-456-1414 or 202-456- 1111

Tell President OBAMA: “We want him to stand strong on supporting a strong public option – Co-ops and Triggers are not a Public Option. He must stand up to the insurance industry and stand up for us- we need a strong public option.

Rapid Response Team – Weekly Calls to Congress

This weekend President Obama’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sibelius, appeared on CNN’s State of the Union and said that the public option is “not the essential element” of the White House reform package. This comes after a week when the White House has changed how it talks about health care reform – changing it to “health insurance reform.”  Keeping a public option as part of health care reform is essential to keeping private insurance companies honest – making sure that everyone in America has access to quality, affordable coverage.

Health Care Can’t Wait!

Call President Obama Today! Please Call NOW!

202-456-1414

Tell President OBAMA: “We are outraged and disappointed with his administration for backing away from a public option. He must stand up to the insurance industry. A strong public option, tied to Medicare, has to be included in the health care reform package!”

Call 202-456 -1414 Now !

Please make a second Call to Senator Schumer Call

1-877-264-4226

Senator Schumer is on the key Senate Finance Committee

Tell Senator Schumer- we need him to continue to fight for a strong public option. A Co-op is not a Public Option. We need the Senate to meet the needs average families not that of the insurance industry – we need a public option.

Rapid Response Team – Weekly Calls to Congress

Now that Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, our Representatives need to hear from us – supporters of health care reform!

The opponents are mobilizing for the August recess – and they’re organized. It’s our job to make sure our Representatives hear from more people supporting health care reform than not. Every Member of Congress needs to hear from folks in their districts while they’re home. They need to understand that we can’t wait for quality, affordable health care and it’s their job to get it done as soon as they return to Washington.

Health Care Can’t Wait!

Southern Tier Area – Call Congressman Arcuri
Syracuse Area – Call Congressman Maffei
Capital District/Hudson Valley – Call Congressman Murphy
Western NY/Elmira – Call Congressman Massa
Long Island – Call Congressman Israel

Call 1-877-264-4226 and ask to be connected the targeted Representative in your area (See above list)

I’m calling for Congressman _____ to let him know Health Care can’t wait! We want your support for H.R. 3200, which provides a choice of a strong public option and helps reduce health care costs for average families. We need you to vote in September for health care reform without further delay!

* If you are having trouble getting through on this number, try this alternative number 1-888-436-8427

Please make a second Call to Senator Schumer (same #)

At this moment the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Senator Backus is working to water down the health care reform bill to get support from the Republicans on the Finance Committee. Tell Senator Schumer that we need health care reform to meet the needs of average families – not the needs of the insurance industry!

I am calling to thank Senator Schumer for his support for health care reform with a strong public option. Please tell Senator Baucus that New Yorkers do not want him to continue to pander to the Republicans who are trying to slow down and water down health care reform.