Please take these actions tomorrow, Monday June 29! It will take you maybe 5 min.
On June 5, the CPC sent a letter to the house leadership regarding their position on health care. The house leadership are the following folks:
Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
Steny Hoyer
Office of the Majority Leader
Jim Clyburn
Office of the Majority Whip
John B. Larson
Democratic Caucus Chair
- Enact concurrently with other significant expansions of coverage and must not be conditioned on private industry actions.
- Consist of one entity, operated by the federal government, which sets policies and bears the risk for paying medical claims to keep administrative costs low and provide a higher standard of care.
- Be available to all individuals and employers across the nation without limitation
- Allow patients to have access to their choice of doctors and other providers that meet defined participation standards, similar to the traditional Medicare model, promote the medical home model, and eliminate lifetime caps on benefits.
- Have the ability to structure the provider rates to promote quality care, primary care, prevention, chronic care management, and good public health.
- Utilize the existing infrastructure of successful public programs like Medicare in order to maintain transparency and consumer protections for administering processes including payment systems, claims and appeals.
- Establish or negotiate rates with pharmaceutical companies, durable medical equipment providers, and other providers to achieve the lowest prices for consumers.
- Receive a level of subsidy and support that is no less than that received by private plans.
- Ensure premiums must be priced at the lowest levels possible, not tied to the rates of private insurance plans.
In conclusion, the public plan, like all other qualified plans, must redress historical disparities in underrepresented communities. It must provide a standard package of comprehensive benefits including dental, vision, mental health and prescription drug coverage with no pre-existing condition exclusions. It must limit cost-sharing so that there are no barriers to care, and incorporate up-to-date best practice models to improve quality and lower costs. All plans, including the public plan, must include coverage for evidence-based preventive health services at minimal or no co-pay. All plans, including the public plan, should be at least as transparent as traditional Medicare.
This is why Nancy Pelosi KNOWS that without a public option, NO health care will pass in the house. It's not a matter of what she thinks, it is an effective CPC that will withhold their votes on anything health care that doesn't meet their test. What this ALSO means for the poor and/or unemployed, is that waivers would exist to cover their medical care until their incomes improve. With the economy in such sad shape, that is sorely needed.
So, Action #2 is to write the CPC and lend your support. Send a letter to the CPC's director, Bill Goold: e-mail: Bill.Goold@mail.house.gov
Hat tip to mcjoan, dKos. Hat tip to slickerwink, dKos for CPC contact info.
*****
This is for Californians: Here's Move On's short vid (30 sec) on CA Senator Dianne Feinstein:
Californians, contact Feinstein. Tell her to get off the dime and represent Californians on health care by supporting a public plan that covers everyone with NO triggers or co-ops.
Posts
|