Archive for July, 2009:
Weekly Address: Health Care Reform Cannot Wait
This is what the debate in Congress is all about: Whether we’ll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more families and businesses go under, and more Americans lose their coverage. Or whether we’ll seize this opportunity – one we might not have again for generations – and finally pass health insurance reform this year, in 2009.
Now we know there are those who will oppose reform no matter what. We know the same special interests and their agents in Congress will make the same old arguments, and use the same scare tactics that have stopped reform before because they profit from this relentless escalation in health care costs.
...The good news is that people who know the system best are rallying to the cause of change. Just this past week, the American Nurses Association, representing millions of nurses across America, and the American Medical Association, representing doctors across our nation, announced their support because they’ve seen first-hand the need for health insurance reform.
They know we cannot continue to cling to health industry practices that are bankrupting families, and undermining American businesses, large and small. They know we cannot let special interests and partisan politics stand in the way of reform – not this time around.
The opponents of health insurance reform would have us do nothing. But think about what doing nothing, in the face of ever increasing costs, will do to you and your family.
So today, I am urging the House and the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to seize this opportunity, and vote for reform that gives the American people the best care at the lowest cost; that reins in insurance companies, strengthens businesses and finally gives families the choices they need and the security they deserve.
LIVE: President Obama to Speak on Health Care
“Small Businesses Need Health Care Reform”
Dan Hannaher, 56, is from Fargo, ND. He employs 22 at his office furnishings business, Hannaher’s, Inc. and served as chairman of North Dakota’s state Democratic Party from 1995 to 1997. We asked him if you would write a guest post for the OFA blog the importance of health care reform to small businesses, and he graciously agreed to. I’ve operated a small family business in Fargo, North Dakota, for over 30 years. We help people work more effectively by providing quality office environments to businesses throughout eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. For years, I’ve taken pride in being able to provide my employees with good, substantial health insurance.
Lots of people think health care is a just a question of dollars and cents for a business owner like me. But they’re wrong; it’s so much more than that. Health care is the foundation of the employee/employer relationship – it’s a way for me to demonstrate my commitment to my staff and the value they provide. I want to be able to ensure that the people who work for me, and their families, are taken care of and have what they need.
We’re blessed with great health care providers who are highly skilled and caring. Their quality is top notch. But the ways in which we insure affordable access to these systems of care is fractured. Promises to control costs keep coming up short. In the last five years, our health insurance costs have gone up 50 percent! My employees are paying higher premiums for fewer services, and coupled with the economic recession our firm can't bear any more rate increases in the employer share of our pact.
President Obama’s commitment to health care reform is one of the reasons why I supported his candidacy, and it’s the reason I’m working with Organizing for America now. My business and my employees literally can’t afford to wait another year for health care reform.
On Thursday, Dan participated in a press conference call about the importance of health care reform to small businesses (listen to an audio recording of the call).
“Small Businesses Need Health Care Reform”
Dan Hannaher, 56, is from Fargo, ND. He employs 22 at his office furnishings business, Hannaher’s, Inc. and served as chairman of North Dakota’s state Democratic Party from 1995 to 1997. We asked him if you would write a guest post for the OFA blog the importance of health care reform to small businesses, and he graciously agreed to. I’ve operated a small family business in Fargo, North Dakota, for over 30 years. We help people work more effectively by providing quality office environments to businesses throughout eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. For years, I’ve taken pride in being able to provide my employees with good, substantial health insurance.
Lots of people think health care is a just a question of dollars and cents for a business owner like me. But they’re wrong; it’s so much more than that. Health care is the foundation of the employee/employer relationship – it’s a way for me to demonstrate my commitment to my staff and the value they provide. I want to be able to ensure that the people who work for me, and their families, are taken care of and have what they need.
We’re blessed with great health care providers who are highly skilled and caring. Their quality is top notch. But the ways in which we insure affordable access to these systems of care is fractured. Promises to control costs keep coming up short. In the last five years, our health insurance costs have gone up 50 percent! My employees are paying higher premiums for fewer services, and coupled with the economic recession our firm can't bear any more rate increases in the employer share of our pact.
President Obama’s commitment to health care reform is one of the reasons why I supported his candidacy, and it’s the reason I’m working with Organizing for America now. My business and my employees literally can’t afford to wait another year for health care reform.
On Thursday, Dan participated in a press conference call about the importance of health care reform to small businesses (listen to an audio recording of the call).
“Why I walk and call”
Earlier today, OFA had a chance to send out a unique message from a special guest sender:
I'm Patricia, from Hallandale Beach, Florida (just a little north of Miami). Like you, I support President Obama, and I want to help his agenda become a reality.
Two years ago, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I'm luckier than many -- I have insurance. But when I had to stop working because of the chemo, I could no longer afford my rapidly increasing health care insurance premiums. I went through my entire retirement savings, then had to start taking out loans from my bank to keep up. Now, with my credit drying up, I'm scared that I'll lose my home and my insurance.
This shouldn't happen in America. A bad diagnosis shouldn't have to mean that everything you've worked so hard to save, and all the plans you've made, are suddenly gone.
So that's why I'm working for real health care reform. Because no one should have to feel the anguish and fear I've felt constantly these last two years. Because this crisis needs to end -- and because I know that will only happen if each of us does our part.
Today, I'm asking you to join me and volunteer with Organizing for America. OFA volunteers are out there every day, talking to our neighbors, organizing community events, and doing everything we can to build the public awareness and support we'll need to pass reform this year.
Will you sign up to join a Health Care Canvass or Phonebank in your area this week?
As the President said on election night last November, "This victory alone is not the change we seek -- it is only the chance to make that change."
We all did a lot to get to this point, but now the real work truly begins. Just yesterday, a key Senate committee passed a strong health care bill, and earlier this week the House released legislation that reflects President Obama's principles for reform. We can't let up now.
So this week, I'll be contacting my neighbors, asking them to declare their support for the President's core principles of reform and then contact their representatives in Congress.
If you join me, and others all around the country do the same, our voices will be louder than the special interests and lobbyists who have preserved this awful system for so many years.
Please join me, and sign up today for a Health Care Canvass or Phonebank in your area.Thank you for reading my story and considering my request,
Patricia
Patricia L.
Organizing for America Volunteer
Hallandale Beach, FL
P.S. -- If you can't make it to any events in your area, don't worry. You can still use Organizing for America's Neighbor to Neighbor tool to call folks near you.
“Why I walk and call”
Earlier today, OFA had a chance to send out a unique message from a special guest sender:
I'm Patricia, from Hallandale Beach, Florida (just a little north of Miami). Like you, I support President Obama, and I want to help his agenda become a reality.
Two years ago, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I'm luckier than many -- I have insurance. But when I had to stop working because of the chemo, I could no longer afford my rapidly increasing health care insurance premiums. I went through my entire retirement savings, then had to start taking out loans from my bank to keep up. Now, with my credit drying up, I'm scared that I'll lose my home and my insurance.
This shouldn't happen in America. A bad diagnosis shouldn't have to mean that everything you've worked so hard to save, and all the plans you've made, are suddenly gone.
So that's why I'm working for real health care reform. Because no one should have to feel the anguish and fear I've felt constantly these last two years. Because this crisis needs to end -- and because I know that will only happen if each of us does our part.
Today, I'm asking you to join me and volunteer with Organizing for America. OFA volunteers are out there every day, talking to our neighbors, organizing community events, and doing everything we can to build the public awareness and support we'll need to pass reform this year.
Will you sign up to join a Health Care Canvass or Phonebank in your area this week?
As the President said on election night last November, "This victory alone is not the change we seek -- it is only the chance to make that change."
We all did a lot to get to this point, but now the real work truly begins. Just yesterday, a key Senate committee passed a strong health care bill, and earlier this week the House released legislation that reflects President Obama's principles for reform. We can't let up now.
So this week, I'll be contacting my neighbors, asking them to declare their support for the President's core principles of reform and then contact their representatives in Congress.
If you join me, and others all around the country do the same, our voices will be louder than the special interests and lobbyists who have preserved this awful system for so many years.
Please join me, and sign up today for a Health Care Canvass or Phonebank in your area.Thank you for reading my story and considering my request,
Patricia
Patricia L.
Organizing for America Volunteer
Hallandale Beach, FL
P.S. -- If you can't make it to any events in your area, don't worry. You can still use Organizing for America's Neighbor to Neighbor tool to call folks near you.
President Obama Speaks on Health Care Reform
The President is scheduled to speak on health care reform today at 1:05 PM Easter. You can watch live at WhiteHouse.gov/live.
UPDATED: Here are the President's full remarks, as prepared for delivery:
I’m pleased to be joined today by representatives from the American Nurses Association on behalf of the 2.9 million registered nurses in America – men and women who know as well as anyone the urgent need for health reform.
I should disclose right off the bat that I have a long-standing bias towards nurses. When Sasha, our younger daughter, contracted a dangerous case of meningitis when she was just three months old, we were terrified. But it was the nurses who were there with us, explaining what was going on, telling us it would all be okay.
So I know how important nurses are, and the nation does too. Nurses aren’t in health care to get rich; they’re in it to care for us from the time they bring new life into this world to the moment they ease the pain of those who pass from it. If it weren’t for nurses, many Americans in underserved and rural areas would have no access to health care at all.
That’s why it’s safe to say few understand why we have to pass reform as intimately as our nation’s nurses. They see firsthand the heartbreaking cost of our health care crisis. They hear the same stories I’ve heard across this country – of treatment deferred or coverage denied by insurance companies; of insurance premiums and prescriptions that are so expensive they consume a family’s entire budget; of Americans forced to use the emergency room for something as simple as a sore throat just because they can’t afford to see a doctor.
This is a problem we can no longer wait to fix. Deferring reform is nothing more than defending the status quo – and those who would oppose our efforts should take a hard look at just what it is they’re defending. Over the last decade, health insurance premiums have risen three times faster than wages. Deductibles and out-of-pocket costs are skyrocketing. And every single day we wait to act, thousands of Americans lose their insurance, some turning to nurses in the emergency room as their only recourse.
So make no mistake: The status quo on health care is not an option for the United States of America. It is threatening the financial stability of our families, our businesses, and government itself. It is unsustainable.
I know a lot of Americans who are satisfied with their health care right now are wondering what reform would mean for them. Let me be clear: If you like your doctor or health care provider, you can keep them. If you like your health care plan, you can keep that too.
But here’s what else reform will mean for you: you’ll save money. If you lose your job, change your job, or start a new business, you’ll still be able to find quality health insurance you can afford. If you have a preexisting medical condition, no insurance company will be able to deny you coverage. You won’t have to worry about being priced out of the market. You won’t have to worry about one illness leading your family into financial ruin. That’s what reform means.
The naysayers and the cynics still doubt we can do this. But it wasn’t too long ago that those same naysayers doubted that we’d be able to make real progress on health care reform. And thanks to the work of key committees in Congress, we are now closer to the goal of health reform than we have ever been.
Yesterday, the House introduced its health reform proposal. And today, thanks to the unyielding passion and inspiration provided by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and the bold leadership of Senator Chris Dodd, the Senate HELP Committee reached a major milestone by passing a similarly strong proposal for health reform. It’s a plan that was debated for more than 50 hours and includes more than 160 Republican amendments – a hopeful sign of bipartisan support for the final product.
Both proposals will take what’s best about our system today and make it the basis of our system tomorrow – reducing costs, raising quality, and ensuring fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry. Both include a health insurance exchange, a marketplace that will allow families and small businesses to compare prices, services and quality so they can choose the plan that best suits their needs; and among the choices available would be a public health insurance option that would make health care more affordable by increasing competition, providing more choices, and keeping insurance companies honest. Both proposals will offer stability and security to Americans who have coverage today, and affordable options for Americans who don’t.
This progress should make us hopeful – but it shouldn’t make us complacent. It should instead provide the urgency for both the House and the Senate to finish their critical work on health reform before the August recess.
America’s nurses need us to succeed, and not just on behalf of all the patients they sometimes have to speak up for. If we invest in prevention, nurses won’t have to treat diseases or complications that could’ve been avoided. If we modernize health records, we’ll streamline the paperwork that can take up more than one-third of a nurse’s day, freeing them to spend more time with their patients. If we make their jobs just a little bit easier, we can attract and train the young nurses we need to make up a nursing shortage that’s only getting worse. Nurses do their part every time they check another healthy patient out of the hospital. It’s time for us to do ours.
We’re going to get this done. These nurses are on board. The American people are on board. It’s up to us now. We can do what we’ve done for so long and defer tough decisions for another day – or we can step up and meet our responsibility as leaders. We can look beyond the next news cycle and the next election to the next generation, and come together to build a system that works not just for these nurses, but for the patients they care for; for doctors and hospitals; for families and businesses – and for our very future as a nation.
Statement by the President on the Health Care Reform Legislation Introduced in the House Today
Following the official release of the House health care bill today, President Obama released the following statement:
"For decades, Washington failed to act as health care costs continued to rise, crushing businesses and families and placing an unsustainable burden on governments. But today, key committees in the House of Representatives have engaged in unprecedented cooperation to produce a health care reform proposal that will lower costs, provide better care for patients, and ensure fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry.
This proposal controls the skyrocketing cost of health care by rooting out waste and fraud and promoting quality and accountability. Its savings of more than $500 billion over 10 years will strengthen Medicare and contribute to our goal of reforming health care in a fiscally responsible way. It will change the incentives in our health care system so that Americans can receive the best care, not the most expensive care. And it will offer families and businesses more choices and more affordable health care.
This proposal will also prevent insurance companies from denying people coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition. It will ensure that workers can still have health insurance if they lose their job, change their job or start a new business. And it includes a health insurance exchange that will allow families and small businesses to compare prices and quality so they can choose the health care plan that best suits their needs. Among the choices that would be available in the exchange would be a public health insurance option that would make health care affordable by increasing competition, providing more choices, and keeping the insurance companies honest.
The House proposal will begin the process of fixing what’s broken about our health care system, reducing costs for all, building on what works, and covering an estimated 97% of all Americans. And by emphasizing prevention and wellness, it will also help improve the quality of health care for every American.
I thank Chairmen Rangel, Waxman, and Miller for their hard work on this bill that fundamentally reforms the health care system. As this process moves forward, I look forward to continuing to work with all House members in ensuring this legislation helps all Americans and plays an essential role in reducing deficits and bringing fiscal sustainability to our nation.”
President Obama and You, One-On-One
From OFA Director Mitch Stewart:
Every single day, special interests spend a staggering $1.4 million lobbying Congress to shut down the President's agenda for health care reform. To fix our broken system, we'll have to counter big corporate money with a grassroots network of folks like you.
More than 100,000 Americans have now donated to our grassroots campaign for health care reform. Because of that support, volunteers are knocking on hundreds of thousands of doors, health care story ads are on the air, and voters are writing and calling Congress to make their voices heard. We're off to a great start, but as the pressure builds in Washington we need to ramp up our efforts to build support in every corner of the country.
If you make a donation by midnight on Thursday, July 16th to power our health care campaign, you could join President Obama in Chicago so he can thank you in person.
Will you make a donation of $5 or more today, and be entered for the opportunity to meet the President in Chicago?
You'll also be invited to a special Organizing for America strategy briefing to discuss the latest in our campaign for real health care reform.
Your donation will help fund our grassroots campaign for real care reform that reduces costs, guarantees every American the choice of plan and doctor -- including a public insurance option -- and ensures quality care for all.
The chance to make this kind of fundamental change is exactly why we put it all on the line to win last year's election. Now is our moment to deliver the real progress America needs.
Will you make a donation of $5 or more by midnight on Thursday, July 16th to support health care reform, and be entered for the opportunity to join the President in Chicago next week?
Thanks for your support,
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America
P.S. -- Can't make a donation right now? That's ok, you can sign up here to be entered for the opportunity to meet President Obama in Chicago and join us for a special strategy briefing.
