For Immediate Release: March 19, 2010
Residents Cite Findings of Senate Energy and Commerce Committee and OMB on How Bill Will Benefit 20th Congressional District
Equate Findings with How Their Lives Will Be Improved
Saratoga Springs, NY – With the House set to vote on the final health care bill in less than 48 hours, New York State and the nation are on the verge of realizing a dream that has been decades in the making. The bill contains many provisions set to fix our broken health care system and improve and expand access to quality, affordable health care. Below are facts from the Senate’s Energy and Commerce Committee as well as the Office of Management and Budget on how the 20th Congressional District will benefit from passage of the bill.
In New York’s 20th congressional district the bill will:
- Improve coverage for 459,000 residents with health insurance.
- Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 151,000 families and 15,500 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
- Improve Medicare for 117,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
- Extend coverage to 29,000 uninsured residents.
- Guarantee that 8,600 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
- Protect 1,200 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
- Allow 51,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
- Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 25 community health centers.
- Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $26 million annually.
- Reduce deficit by $100 billion over next 10 years
Residents and small business owners in New York’s 20th Congressional District have much to gain from passage of this legislation. Below are quotes expressing the real world implications of passage of this bill.
“Our families, neighbors, and the 20th Congressional District will benefit from this long overdue reform of our broken health care system. In the 20th Congressional District alone, this bill would improve coverage for 459,000 people who currently have health insurance and expand coverage to many of those who don’t.” – Charles Brown, Saratoga Springs
“Under our current health care system, my hands are tied. Clients aren’t able to receive the care they need and deserve on a regular basis because of sky-high premium costs. By covering most of the District’s uninsured and providing tax credits to those most in need, my clients will be able to access care on a predictable schedule. That piece of mind alone makes passage of this bill absolutely necessary.” – Caroline Russell-Smith, LCSW, Saratoga Springs
“When our premiums rose to three times their original level after only 12 years, I was forced to drop coverage for my employees as well as myself. With the passage of this bill and it’s tax credits to small businesses like my store I hope to once again offer health insurance.” – Lisa Scerbo, owner Hot Shots Photo, Latham
“This is the best opportunity in decades for the district, the state and the country to realize the dream of quality, affordable health care” – Chris Scoville, Capital District Organizer of Citizen Action of New York
“This is not about politics but about what must happen right now to fix our broken health care system and ensure that health care access is a right and not a privilege. Our district has everything to gain from passage of this bill.” – Al Ormsby, member Saratoga Democratic Committee, board member of Citizen Action of New York, Saratoga Springs resident
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