2010 Action Alert Archives

December 15 2010:
Get Active to Protect Entitlements (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid)

The issues of deficit reduction, extending Bush-era tax cuts, and “entitlement reform” (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) are becoming red hot in the Washington, DC policy and political arenas. These issues are likely to grow hotter in the next Congress over the next 2 years, leading up to the 2012 elections. To respond to these recent and anticipated developments, the new national “Strengthen Social Security” campaign (www.strengthensocialsecurity.org) has been launched to push-back against bad ideas and promote good ideas concerning Social Security. We urge you to check them out and consider joining as a group or signing up for their email list as an individual. 

The new federal health care reform law (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) contains a variety of measures to improve Medicare and Medicaid. How the coming fight over Social Security plays out and turns out will very much determine whether and how changes to Medicare and Medicaid are implemented under the ACA, or whether much more radically destructive changes are pursued that will undermine the fundamentals of these health care programs as social insurance. 

Here in NYC, the New York Network for Action on Medicare and Social Security (NYNAMSS), a coalition we have co-chaired since its founding in 1998, has joined forces with the New York State Alliance for Retired American (NYSARA), our state affiliate of the national ARA (the retiree arm of the AFL-CIO), to lead the Strengthen Social Security campaign in our area.  We invite your participation in this new effort, and to attend our next meeting coming up this Friday morning Dec. 17 at Teamsters Local 237 (see notice below.) 

To provide a bit of background on recent developments:

The co-chairs President Obama’s “deficit reduction commission” (aka, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform) released their proposals on Dec. 1^st. They were not officially endorsed by the full commission via a super-majority at its final meeting on Dec. 3^rd. The chairs’  ideas for Social Security included:

o Raising the normal retirement age from 67 to 69 years (by 2075)

o  Raising the early eligibility age from 62 to 64 (by 2075)

o Adjusting the basic benefit formula down slightly for middle and upper-income beneficiaries while raising the floor a bit for low-wage workers

o Changing the formula used to determine annual cost-of-living adjustments (“COLA”) by shifting from the “standardâ€� to a “chainedâ€� consumer price index.

o Raising the cap on taxable income for Social Security to capture up to 90% of all wages, the historic benchmark for the program which has fallen over the past 2 decades to 86% as income inequality has grown

The deficit commission co-chair’s proposals for health care included:

o Combining and reforming cost-sharing requirements (deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance) for Medicare Parts A and B

o Instituting deductibles and co-insurance for all private Medicare supplemental (“Medigap”) plans

o Mandate that people on both Medicare and Medicaid enroll in managed care plans/programs

o Reforming or repealing the new “CLASS” act (long-term care insurance) provision of the ACA

o Moderating the growth of Medicare payment rates to doctors

o Lower Medicare payments to hospitals for Graduate Medical Education and bad debt

o Give states more flexibility over their Medicaid programs via waivers from program requirements

o Pursue medical malpractice/tort reforms, including caps on punitive/non-economic damages

o Establish a long-term global budget for federal health care spending, to a target GDP + 1%; if target is exceeded, mandate consideration of fundamental changes to Medicare and Medicaid as social insurance programs

 One of the provisions of the tax cut deal President Obama recently reached with Senate Republican leaders proposes a one-year “Social Security tax holiday”, whereby employees’ contributions to the program will be lowered during 2011 from 6.2% to 4.2%. (Note: employers contributions will remain at 6.2%.) This measure is intended as an economic stimulus to counter the ongoing Great Recession.  However, it will cost the Social Security Trust Fund $120B that would otherwise be paid into it, and it is not certain if and how those funds will eventually be replaced.  If approved by Congress, this move would be the first time in the program’s 75-year history that Social Security’s Trust Fund’s contributions are being explicitly used/displaced for non-Social Security purposes. Many are worried that this sets a very bad precedent, and also about the implications for the Trust Fund’s long-term finances. 

These and other issues will be discussed at this Friday’s meeting, including action plans to target the New York Congressional delegation, and activities people can do in their own communities to influence public opinion on Social Security.Please join us if you can, or have your organization or union send a representative.

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ACTION ALERT-September 27, 2010

One Nation Working Together: Rally on October 2, 2010

On this coming Saturday, Oct. 2^nd, hundreds of thousands of Americans, including tens of thousands of New Yorkers, will convene on the National Mall in Washington, DC, for a historic gathering to restore our nation’s vision of hope and unity.  Led by a broad coalition of national civil rights, organized labor, and other like-minded organizations, participants will rally and march in support of the change America voted for 2 years ago:  good jobs, affordable health care, universal education, renewable energy, full civil and human rights for all in America, and an economy that works for all of us, not just the richest 1-2%.

Most of all, people will be joining together during this crucial election season to combat a cynical politics of fear, hate, and division, and instead affirm our nation’s values of hope, justice, opportunity, and inclusion. 

Buses are leaving from all over the New York area to take people down and back to DC this Saturday. They are being sponsored by a plethora of community groups, trade unions, religious congregations, issue coalitions, and public officials. Many are free or low cost.  Here’s how to find one near you:  http://www.onenationworkingtogether.org/pages/transportation

Or contract your own local union and community group to see what they may be planning, or for a referral they may have or be offering.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

As the famous phrase from the civil rights movement goes, “Get on the bus!”  Find one near you and get on it.  Reach out to friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors to join with you as a group.  Car pool down if you like. But whatever, BE THERE!

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ACTION ALERT:  August 8, 2010
Preserve and Improve Social Security for ALL Generations!

Social Security is the bedrock of our nation’s anti-poverty and social welfare programs.  It protects older Americans who have retired, widows/widowers and children, and people living with permanent disabilities.  Upon it is built our vital health care programs of Medicare and Medicaid.  The new national health care reform law is constructing a new, national health care floor upon both these programs.  Along with Social Security, all three are social insurance entitlement programs, meaning that they are part of our nation’s social contract between individuals and families, government, and the private sector.  We all deserve them at some point in our lives in that we pay into them over time via payroll, income, and corporate taxes.

New Possible Threat:  The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

In the wake of the substantial increase in federal government spending in response to the Great Recession, and deficit spending resulting from Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy and unfunded wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama has established a special commission to a) review government spending and develop recommendations to balance the federal budget by 2015, and b) review long-term prospects for entitlement financing (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.)  Members of the Commission were appointed by the President, and the Majority and Minority leaders in each house of Congress, and there are bi-partisan co-chairs.  A super-majority of 14 of the 18 members are required to make recommendations to the President and Congress.  They are to report by December 1^st of this year, and Congress is committed to an up-or-down vote on them before the end of the year.  The Commission has been holding monthly public hearings in Washington since this spring.  Full details are at www.fiscalcommission.gov

The Political Dynamics at Play:

Political conservatives, both in and outside Congress, are using this Commission to move an agenda they have long sought:  to end our current entitlement programs as we know them today, and dramatically scale them back and/or privatize them (either fully or partially.)  They are doing this by means of conflating the Commission’s two separate goals (one short-term, the other long-term) by saying that the only way to balance the budget by 2015 is to “reform entitlements.”  Indeed, both the Commission’s co-chairs have stated that entitlement spending, particularly Social Security, will be in their cross-hairs.  This, despite the fact that Social Security has nothing to do with causing the federal deficit, either up to now or in the foreseeable future.  In fact, the surplus in its trust fund has helped to bail out the federal government for over the past 25 years, and the program, which has its own dedicated funding stream, is not projected to face any serious financial difficulties for at least another 30 years.

One of the main leaders of a nearly-40-year attack on entitlements is self-made billionaire Peter Peterson, former Treasury Secretary in the Nixon administration.  He has since founded and led the Concord Coalition, an organization which for 30 years has spread propaganda that Social Security is going broke and not going to be able to be maintained for future generations, all a Big Lie.  He recently pledged $1 billion of his own wealth to fund a campaign to influence the work of the Commission.  Ideas he and his colleagues are promoting include raising the retirement age to 69, changing the initial benefit formulas, changing the cost-of-living adjustment formulas, and creating individualized private, personal savings accounts within Social Security.  These forces have also pledged to not support any new forms of taxes to help balance the budget, but instead are advocating spending cuts to social programs.  Should one or more of the ideas come to pass, the burden of poverty will be shifted back onto the backs of individuals and families themselves and away from our broader society where the young help sustain the old, the healthy sustain the sick, and the more-affluent sustain the less-affluent.

The good news is that a variety of forces are coming together nationally to counter the efforts of Peterson and his allies.  Various progressive organizations, led by Social Security Works (www.socialsecurity-works.org) and the Alliance for Retired Americans (www.retiredamericans.org), among others, launched the “Strengthen Social Security Campaign” (SSSC) in Washington, DC last month.  Their goals are to block the Commission from attaining a super-majority for any bad ideas, and to promote good ideas such as letting the Bush-ear tax cuts expire for the wealthy, raising payrolls taxes modestly for upper-income workers, and raising the limit on taxable earnings that fund Social Security.  And once the Commission finishes its work, attention will be directed to Congress both for its lame-duck session this year, and its regular new session beginning in January 2011 through the 2012 elections.

What’s Happening Here in NY:

To kick-off this new SSSC across the nation, events are being planned this month to celebrate the 75 Anniversary of the signing of the first Social Security law by President Roosevelt on August 14, 1935.  Here in New York City, 2 events will be taking place on Thurs., August 19:

·        10 a.m. at the Taino Towers Gymnasium at 240 E. 123^rd St. in East Harlem

·        1 p.m. at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, 68^th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan

Other events are also being held across the state this month.  We urge you to attend one of them.  Members of Congress have been invited to attend, along with key leaders from organized labor, senior citizen, health care, disability, women, and children’s advocacy groups.  These events will be positive in nature to celebrate and highlight the crucial and successful role Social Security and other entitlements play for working people and their families.   For more information on NYC events, contact Nancy True at Teamsters Local 237 (212-8070555) or Pia Scarfo at the Institute for Puerto Rican and Hispanic Elderly (212-677-4181)  For upstate events, contact Mary Clark at Citizen Action of New York (607-723-0110.)

Ongoing subsequent events here in NYC will be coordinated through the New York Network for Action on Social Security and Medicare (NYNAMSS), a coalition of senior, disability, and health care advocacy groups, along with our partners at the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans (www.nysara.org.)  We here at the Metro NY Health Care for All Campaign are pleased to coordinate NYNAMSS along with New York Statewide Senior Action Council (www.nysenior.org) and the Joint Public Affairs Committee for Older Adults (www.jpac.org.)  Watch for future emails from us!

By joining together across New York and America, we can not only protect our nation’s vital social insurance programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, we can also improve them so that many more may benefit from them for ALL generations to come.

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ACTION ALERT: July 12, 2010

Help Everyday People Get and Keep Health Care During the Current "Great Recession”

It’s hard to believe, but Congress is in a stalemate over a bill to keep helping everyday people who are suffering greatly during the current “Great Recession.”  At risk is continuing unemployment benefits, affordable COBRA health insurance coverage, and Medicaid funding support for states.  The bill also contains provisions to support desperately-needed job creation, and whether or not to extend Bush-era tax cuts, credits, and subsidies and who should get them.

 The Obama administration and Congressional leaders are pushing hard for a bill to keep support for vital health care safety net programs in place.  However, so-called “deficit hawks” (mostly Republicans, joined by a few Democrats) are keeping a vote from coming up on the Senate floor – it’s the exact same political dynamic that we all saw played out during the health care reform debate last fall, winter, and spring.  Most observers believe that opponents are engaging in mere political and ideological gamesmanship, to help bolster themselves for this fall’s midterm elections, and that true policy concerns and merits are secondary (at best.)

 The good news is that both New York’s Senators Schumer and Gillibrand are pushing for the right thing.  The “challenging news” is that over in the House of Representatives, one member of Congress from NYC, Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/SW Brooklyn), has already voted against the bill, and that bill did NOT include continued funding for COBRA subsidies for the newly-unemployed, OR continued increased Medicaid funding for states. 

 The current bill now stalled in the Senate DOES contain additional Medicaid funding, but NO funding for COBRA.  One of the key aspects of the new health care reform law is an expanded Medicaid program, expected to ramp up over the next few years.  Roughly one-half of all those eventually getting health coverage under the new law will get Medicaid coverage.  That effort will be gutted before it starts if current additional Medicaid funding for states is not continued.

 COBRA and Medicaid are intricately linked in the context of the current Great Recession.  If unemployed workers lose their COBRA subsidies, they will become uninsured, placing a further strain on our already-overburdened safety net providers, and they will eventually end up on Medicaid, causing an even further strain on New York’s already-overstrained state, county, and city budgets.  While there is a fair amount of political steam gathering in support of the Medicaid funding issue, thanks to Governors speaking out, that effort is penny-wise and pound-foolish without concurrently also addressing the COBRA subsidy issue.  BOTH issues must be addressed simultaneously, not one without the other.

 What you can do:

1.     Call YOUR member of Congress (202-224-3121 or check www.house.gov) and demand that the government continue enhanced support for vital health care programs like COBRA and Medicaid.  While almost all NYC members of Congress are supporting such moves, it is important that they hear from New Yorkers how urgent this matter is, given how bad the economy is and how long a recovery is expected to take.  Since COBRA subsidies were left out of the original House bill this past spring, be sure to particularly mention it

. 2.      Call Senators Schumer and Gillibrand (202-224-3121 or check www.senate.gov) and thank them for their efforts, and urge them to keep fighting, that the matter is urgent.  Also be sure to urge that COBRA subsidies be added into the bill the Senate is now crafting and debating.

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ACTION ALERT:  April 14, 2010
Restore Government Oversight of Health Insurance Premium Rates in New York

For over a decade now, thanks to deregulation by the former Pataki administration, health insurers in New York have been able to raise their premium rates annually as much as they like under a system called "file-and-use."  The state has only been able to review rate increases retrospectively to determine if they were excessive, but only after more than a year and a half later.  As a consequence, premium rates here in New York have increased more than 100% since 2000, while median family incomes have only increased 11%.  Individual policies now run around $10,000/year for an individual, and over $24,000 for family coverage -- these rates are frankly just plain unaffordable and so people are dropping or foregoing coverage, and the number of uninsured has risen substantially  Meanwhile, insurers profits have increased dramatically, they have greatly increased the percentage of their profits they have funneled back to their national corporate entities, and New York has proven to be a very profitable market for health insurance companies.

Prior to this "file-and-use" system, New York operated for many years under a system of "prior approval", whereby the state had to review and approve all rate increases BEFORE they go into effect, and could roll-back amounts proposed if deemed excessive.  In addition, the state could hold public hearings on proposed rate increases over 10%.

Governor Paterson has proposed to restore "prior approval" and public hearings within his budget proposals for this year, currently being debated by the state legislature.  This restoration would apply to the small group, individual, and Medicare supplemental markets.  In addition, the Governor proposes to raise insurers' "medical-loss ratios" (the amount of premium income insurers are required to spend on paying claims) up to 85% for these same markets, meaning insurers could only keep 15% for overhead and profits.  The new federal health care reform law contemplates and supports states moving to systems of prior approval and medical-loss ratios.  More than two dozen states already require prior approval.

Consumer advocates, small businesses and senior groups are enthusiastically supporting these proposals from Governor Paterson.  However, as I'm sure is no surprise to anyone, the insurance industry is dead set against them, and defeating them is their number one priority here in New York this year.  They are pulling out all the stops and doing everything they can to stop prior approval from being restored.

The good news is that the Assembly is supporting the Governor in its budget.  The challenging news is that the State Senate has yet to embrace the Governor's proposals in its initial resolution.  Because the Senate majority is only held by 2 seats, the insurance industry needs to, and so far has been able to, pick-off or neutralize a couple of members of the majority (currently Democrats.) Senate Majority Conference Chair John Sampson (D-central Brooklyn) is pivotal to breaking the grid-lock on prior approval and get positive action on it.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Contact your own State Senator (518-455-2800) and Senator Sampson (518-455-2788) to urge they support Governor Paterson's budget proposals to "restore prior approval of health insurance rate increases" -- side with everyday New Yorkers, small businesses, and people on Medicare, and NOT the insurance industry.  Stop the insurance industry rip-off here in New York.

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Action Alert: March 30, 2010:
Thank New York’s Senators and Congressmembers for Voting for Health Justice!

When Congress took it's final vote on health care reform a little over a week ago, it was a tough vote for many. For some, the final bill didn't go far enough and left out a new public health insurance option; for others, it made too many compromises on abortion rights and immigrant inclusion; for still others, it included an onerous new tax on comprehensive, top-of-the line plans, or it didn't provide enough funds for hospitals that serve large numbers of uninsured patients.

No final bill is ever perfect -- compromise is always characteristic of our democracy. We can all find flaws and shortcomings in the new law.

However, one thing was clear: the status quo was not an option. Health care desperately needed to be reformed, and so the only real question before Congress was who was going to prevail in determining what reforms were going to happen: the army of the status quo special interests, or the public interest as put forward by advocates and activists pressuring government? While the status quo was not eliminated or mitigated as much as many of us would have liked to see happen, government was able to step out in very major ways to move our nation toward affirming access to quality, affordable health care to all members of our society.

The new health care reform law is truly historic. Yet we all know that, in the long run, our work for health care justice and health care for all is not finished. In the end, despite the necessary political compromises, Congress was able to do the right thing, and set our nation on a new path with a new foundation. We now have a responsibility to take maximum advantage of all the new opportunities the new law provides, and then push on further, especially at the state level.

New Yorkers owe the members of our New York City Congressional delegation a hearty thanks, both for their votes for health care reform per se, and also for all the leadership they provided behind the scenes. Both New York and America overall made out much better under health care reform because of the efforts of New York lawmakers, especially Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, Rep. Rangel, Rep. Clarke, Rep. Crowley, Rep. Maloney, Rep. Nadler, Rep. Velazquez, and Rep. Weiner. Overall, nearly 2 million of New York's 2.6 million will get health coverage through this new law, many more community health centers will be built, hospitals will be protected against severe funding cuts, and New York will get more funds to support our various public insurance programs. These are just a few of the benefits for New Yorkers.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1.      Join us for a "thank you" press conference to recognize the leadership of the NY Congressional delegation:
        Thursday, April 1st at 11 a.m.
        City Hall steps
        Bring signs and banners. Arrive early to clear security.

2.      Call Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and YOUR member of Congress and thank them for all they did to get us as good health care reform as possible at this time.

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ACTION ALERT: March 23, 2010
Congratulations!  We DID IT!!

THANK YOU, EVERYONE!  Working together,... WE DID IT!!

After almost a century, Congress finally passed major, comprehensive health care reform legislation, setting our nation on a path toward health care justice.

It was truly historic to witness President Obama signing the new health care bill into law this morning. America has taken a giant step forward to join the rest of the civilized world in assuring comprehensive quality health care for all. We couldn't have accomplished this goal without all your efforts and everyone working together, not necessarily in lockstep, but in complementarity, each contributing in their own way as best they could.

All but one of our NYC Congressional delegation voted for the new law. The one exception was Rep. Michael McMahon who represents Staten Island and parts of southwest Brooklyn. Other NY Reps. who did not vote for the law included Rep. Peter King (Long Is.), Rep. Mike Arcuri (Utica), and Rep. Chris Lee (western NY.) Only one last step remains: Senate passage of the budget reconciliation "sidecar" law to improve the base bill signed into law today. The Senate is expected to vote on it by this weekend. Both Senators Schumer and Gillibrand are committed to voting for these good and necessary changes.

ACTION STEP: Call your member of Congress and thank them for supporting the reform bill. (If your Rep. is Mike McMahon, call and express your disappointment and inquire as to why he chose not to vote for it.)

A report from the front:

Yesterday in Washington, a major rally and march in support of reform was led by hundreds of health care professionals: doctors, nurses, medical students and their allies representing over 20 professional associations and community partners. Although it poured rain, our spirits were not dampened as a sea of people in white coats and scrubs marched from near the White House up to Capitol Hill for a celebration and call to action for the Senate. MoveOn leaders who'd been in the Capitol the night before to witness the historic House vote augmented our ranks. Buses came from all over the northeast and mid-Atlantic, including two from NYC sponsored by the Committee of Interns and Residents, Doctors for America, the National Physicians' Alliance, and the American Medical Student Association. Overall, medical professionals came from all across the nation, at least 30 states.

One particularly moving moment occurred as we walked past the Newseum, a museum dedicated to journalism. Each day, the museum posts scores of front pages of that day's papers in display cases that line its block-long facade, featuring a variety of newspapers from cities and towns large and small from all across our nation. Every single one of them had large bold banner headlines declaring the historic nature of the previous night's House vote (...and often noting that no Republicans supported it or that Democrats had to do it by themselves.)

A second moving moment occurred as we walked past the Canadian embassy. Staff came out onto the balcony and cheered us on. While many of us in our hearts had wanted to see reforms enacted here that would have been much closer to the system they have in Canada, the Canadians understood the important and historic step that America had finally taken with this new law.

Once inside the Senate's Hart Office building, a major press event was held that featured leaders from all the various organizations involved in the march. The energy was electric. People were thrilled and cheered enthusiastically as we were also addressed by Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, and Rep. Jim McDermott of Seattle, himself a physician-psychiatrist by profession. Afterwards, we visited Senate offices to urge swift consideration of the budget reconciliation bill, and then went over to Representative's offices to thank them for their votes. It was particularly moving to stop by the offices of Rep. John Dingell, whose father introduced one of the first national health care bills in Congress over 60 years ago.

So,... what's up next?

1. Sit back and savor the moment and our accomplishment. Let yourself feel good. Congress has passed the most significant piece of social justice legislation in over two generations, since the civil rights bill and the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. We should all be both very humble and very proud.

2. IMMEDIATELY: set the narrative. Don't let the opponents of reform tell the (his)story of what happened this past weekend and the meaning/significance of the new law and the year(s)-long struggle to get where we are today.

3. Get ready for the work ahead:

• Educating the public about what's in the new law, what happens when, and what people's various options are.
• Pushing back against efforts at repeal. The "tea party" activists and their allies are already doing everything they can to undermine the historic new law. Some of them are also exhibiting very unacceptable tactics against the supporters of reform, including name-calling, use of racial and homophobic epithets, spitting, intimidation, and threatening violence.
• Moving forward with implementation, much of which will take place at the state level over 3-4+ years.
• Taking maximum advantage of all options to move as far as we can here in New York.

We'll likely be having a celebration here in NYC sometime soon in the next few weeks and we'd very much like you to join us. We'll also be doing a "thank you" press event with our Congressional delegation, so watch for future emails!

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ACTION ALERT: -- March 19, 2010:
Help Deliver the NYC Congressional Vote for national health care reform!

After a year of fits and starts, Congress is moving to finish up major national health care reform legislation. President Obama put forth a compromise proposal in late February, and Congressional leaders have used it to craft a final bill. The House is scheduled to vote on it this coming Sunday afternoon or evening. The Senate will then take it up next week, with the goal of voting on it before they adjourn for the upcoming Easter-Passover recess that starts on March 29. After nearly a century of struggle, our nation is finally moving forward to advance health care justice and establishing health care as a human right.

While the final legislation is not the ideal we'd all like to see (either in the form of a single-payer national health insurance program, or with provisions like a Medicare-based public health insurance option and a strong employer mandate), it will provide a new and much-improved foundation that our nation and states can build on to move toward universal health care over the coming decade. Millions will gain coverage through Medicaid, expansions of employer-based coverage, and new "Health Insurance Exchanges" that will pool people and offer discounted policies along with subsidies for low and moderate income people and families. Coverage standards will be improved, and the private insurance industry will be much more regulated and its worst abuses will end. Both Medicare and Medicaid will be improved in a variety of ways, with a particular emphasis on enhancing primary care. Finally, our health care delivery system will be made much more efficient to lower costs and improve quality, and many new community health centers will created.

To find out how your own Congressional district or community will benefit from health care reform, click here: http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1717:hr-3200-americas-affordable-health-choices-act-of-2009-markup-district-by-district&catid=156:reports&Itemid=55#toc32

The good news: Almost all members of the NYC Congressional delegation are committed do supporting this historic bill. The only exception is Rep. Michael McMahon, who represents Staten Island and parts of southwest Brooklyn. As of this writing, he is still undecided.

What YOU can do:

1. Contact your own member of Congress to thank them for their commitment to reform and urge them to support the bill.  You can find their contact information at www.house.gov

2. Call Rep. McMahon and urge him to support the bill, for the sake of not only his own district, but also for all New Yorkers and Americans. You can reach his Staten Island office at 718-356-8400, and his Brooklyn office at 718-630-5277. Please make this call whether or not you are a constituent -- you're a New Yorker after all!

Be sure to tune in to C-SPAN on Sunday afternoon and evening to watch the debate and vote. It will be truly a historic occasion not to be missed!

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ACTION ALERT:  March 1, 2009 -- Get on the Bus to DC ...to stop “Big Insurance”!

Thanks to you, momentum is building to move forward and finish comprehensive health care reform legislation in Congress in the next few  weeks.

Last week, President Obama put forward his own blueprint for how  Congress can proceed, and the White House convened a bi-partisan summit to bring  Congressional leaders of both parties together to air their concerns and  differences and attempt to identify any common ground.

These  developments came on the heels of a week in mid-February when thousands of  Americans took to the streets and called on Congressmembers to act on health  care reform, including our own very successful Brooklyn Bridge march. Taken all  together, these events have shaken our political leaders out of their lethargy  and paralysis -- they know they must act, and that the status quo is not an  option because it is not sustainable.

In the meantime, millions of  Americans are now engaged in a mass effort to get a new public health insurance  option included back in a final bill. Thanks to your phone calls and emails,  over 120 House members and 30 Senators (and counting!) have signed letters to  Congressional leaders calling for a public option. Both our NY Senators have  signed on as have many House members from our state -- see the complete lists at http://whipcongress.com/?source=huff-ag-announce1

You  can also join at least 200,000 Americans who have already signed an on-line  e-petition is support of a public option at: http://act.boldprogressives.org/cms/sign/bipartisanship/?source=huff-ag-announcement1

What's  up next?

The goal is to get a good, final bill passed by the  Easter-Passover recess, a mere month from now. Who's standing in the way? The  special interests, of course ...and their political shills in Congress. (Need you  ask?) At the top of the list of nay-sayers is "Big Insurance" who is trying to  stop any kind of REAL health care reform from moving ahead in Congress. Here's  what kind of reform insurers want to see in a final bill:

• no public option
• no national insurance exchange
• mandates for individuals/families to buy insurance (if you don't have  employer coverage or qualify for a public program)
• little or no regulation of premium prices and increases
• allowing premium discrimination based on age
• allowing premium discrimination based on whether or not you participate in,  or how well you progress in or respond to, a wellness program
• no or low minimum medical-loss ratios
• policies with low actuarial values (high deductibles, lots of co-pays,  limits on amounts of services)
• sub-par policies for young adults
• weak oversight roles for state-based exchanges and regulators

What YOU can do:  GET ON THE BUS!

On Tues.  March 9, thousands of Americans are going to descend on Washington,  DC for a major protest called "Shut Them Down", taking place outside  a conference of the health insurance trade association and lobby (known as  "America's Health Insurance Plans" or "AHIP".) The event will be a "rolling  protest" comprised of a variety of creative and/or confrontational affinity  group-based activities that will start at 12 noon and continue on through the  afternoon. It's all designed to call out the insurance industry and its long and  shameful history of profiteering at the expense of the sick and injured. We also  want to call attention their efforts to either stop reform outright (for almost  a century now), or shape reform to suit their interests (see list above) instead  of the public interest.

The goal is of this day of action is to make the  insurance industry radio-active politically, much as what has happened to "Big  Tobacco", "Big Pharma" and "Big Banks" in recent years. If you've got a  compelling story to tell about YOUR experience with insurance coverage, this  event is your opportunity to speak up, speak out, and take action. There may  also be an opportunity for some people to visit their Congressmembers' offices  on Capitol Hill while in town, to express their opinions on health care reform  and to say "Listen to us, the people -- not Big Insurance  companies."

Buses will be leaving from NYC from various union locations  (check with yours, if you are a member.)  Community buses will also be leaving  from Union Square North (E. 17th St.) for community-based activists. To sign-up  for a community bus, simply go to www.tinyurl.com/march9rally and someone will  get back in touch with you about specifics. These buses will be leaving NYC at  5:30 a.m..and are expected to arrive back home by mid-late evening. If your  organization thinks you can fill a bus on your own, let us know ASAP, and we'll  see what we can do to arrange something convenient for you.

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Action Alert: February 19, 2010 -- March Across the Brooklyn Bridge!

There's definitely a buzz out there! Hundreds of New Yorkers will be taking to the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Broadway tomorrow afternoon to stand up for health care reform and the change agenda -- we hope you and your friends and colleagues will be joining us!

Our march will end outside the NYC offices of WellPoint, the nation's largest, and quite notorious, insurance company that's been in the news lately because of raising their rates in California by as much as 39%! Here in NYC, their subsidiary Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, recently raised its rates for small business clients by nearly 20%, much beyond the rate of medical inflation.

Like us, this week Americans across the country have been taking to the streets in scores of actions that are calling out the special interests for stopping real health care reform, and calling on Congress and the president to "get health care done, get it done right, and get it done now!" and to "listen to us, not the insurance companies!"

Here's a sampling of what's been happening:

• Up in Albany, nearly 100 people rallied outside the offices of the New York Health Plan Association (the insurers trade lobby) to expose their lies about and moves to stop health care reform both in Washington and Albany, and call out their profiteering. Afterwards, they visited scores of state legislators offices in support of restoring "prior approval" of health insurance premium increases, a move being fiercely resisted by the insurance lobby.
• Across the river in New Jersey, dozens rallied in Highland Park and in Montclair, scores of "water cooler gatherings" to talk about what's really in the Congressional health care bills were convened in workplaces, and several "honk-ins" were held along major streets and roadways.
• In Philadelphia, hundreds attended a send-off rally to launch a week-long, 135-mile "relay march" to Washington in memory of Melanie Shouse, a veteran health care activist who died of breast cancer because she didn't have affordable insurance.
• In Des Moines, dozens gathered outside their State Capitol to demand their Congressmembers move forward on health care.
• In Augusta, scores rallied at the State House and confronted U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe about her troublesome record on health care reform
• In Providence, nearly 100 rallied to demand health care reform and job creation.
• In Hartford, activists and small business owners joined forces for a "pitchfork and torches" evening rally.
• In Seattle, 10,000(!) turned out for a mega-rally.

Again, here's what's happening here in NYC tomorrow, Sat. Feb. 20th:

Health Care for America Now
MoveOn
NYC for Change
invite you to:

March Across the Brooklyn Bridge
for Health Care Reform & the ‘Change Agenda’
 
Call Out the Special Interests
and their Political Obstructionists
that are stopping ‘Change’ in Washington!

SAT., FEB. 20
 
11:30 a.m. – Gather in Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn
(take A or C train to High St., 2 or 3 train to Clark St.)
 
12 noon – March steps off
 
1 p.m. – Rally outside NYC offices of WellPoint
One Liberty Plaza, Broadway & Liberty Street in Manhattan
(take any train to Fulton St,, Broadway-Nassau)
 
Bring posters, signs, and banners!

AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE. Washington must move forward on a Change Agenda!

HEALTH CARE IS THE WEDGE ISSUE FOR THE CHANGE AGENDA.If health care moves, so does everything else: jobs and labor law reform, climate change, financial services reform, and immigration reform.

WASHINGTON MUST FINISH THE JOB ON HEALTH CARE. Get health care reform done, get it done right, and get it done now!

THE SPECIAL INTERESTS AND THEIR POLITICAL SHILLS ARE STOPPING HEALTH CARE AND THE CHANGE AGENDA – health insurers, drug companies, banks and Wall St. firms, business trade groups
 
Participating groups [list in formation]: Barack Obama Democratic Club, Center for Independence of the Disabled in NY, Citizen Action of NYC, Coalition of Asian-American Children and Families, Committee of Interns and Residents SEIU Healthcare, Communications Workers of America, Downtown East for Obama, Democarcy for NYC, Eric’s Law, Greater NY Labor-Religion Coalition, Health Care for All NY, Make the Road New York, Metro NY Health Care for All Campaign, MoveOn, National Physicians Alliance, NW Bronx for Change, NY-DSA, NY Immigration Coalition, NYers for Accessible Health Coverage, NYC for Change, NYS Nurses Assoc., Public Health Assoc. of NYC, Queens County for Change, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need, Rekindling Reform, UWS Baby Boomers for Change, Tribeca for Change, Westchester Health Care Reform Task Force, Young Invincibles

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ACTION ALERT: February 3, 2010 -- Combat the media and “conventional wisdom” spin on health care reform

The mainstream media is full of reports and "conventional wisdom" that, in the wake of the recent special Senate election in Massachusetts, comprehensive health care reform efforts in Washington are dead, but THAT IS NOT TRUE. Comprehensive health care reform is still very much alive in Congress.

Last week, over 800 health activists from around the country converged on Washington for the annual "2010 Health Action" conference, including nearly 50 New Yorkers. While there, we made visits to the offices of both our Senators (Gillibrand and Schumer) and 12 Reps. from across New York (Acuri, Bishop, Clarke, Maffei, Maloney, McCarthy, Murphy, Nadler, Ownes, Rangel, Tonko, and Weiner.) The message we delivered was "Keep moving forward on comprehensive health care reform." And the message we heard back was "Never fear -- we ARE working on how to do just that, but it may take another few weeks to complete negotiations on a final bill and then finish up the legislative process."

At the conference itself, Sen. Al Franken, Rep. Donna Edwards, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, DCCC chair Rep. Chris Van Hollen, and White House counsel Valerie Jarrett all assured us that Congress and the President are committed to finishing up comprehensive health care reform by this spring. No one is going to walk away or scale back the bill in scope.

A new, interesting wrinkle:

The only remaining process remaining for Congress to accomplish comprehensive reform is now a "simple majority" process in the Senate. This new situation means that real improvements can be made in a final bill. These include creating a new public health insurance option as an alternative to private health insurance and/or perhaps allowing people over age 50 or 55 to buy-in to Medicare. A "Dear Colleague" letter now being circulated on Capitol Hill supporting these moves already has over 80 signatures (and growing.)  It is being led by Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine and Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado.

So,... our job now is to keep pushing Congress to "get the job done." Here's what YOU can do this week:

1. Show up for a press conference organized by our friends at MoveOn, taking outside the NYC office of Sen. Charles Schumer TOMORROW MORNING, TUES. FEB. 2nd at 8:30 a.m. Sen. Schumer is a key leader on health care reform, and we'll be there to encourage him to "keep leading the charge." Please join us outside 757 Third Ave. (at 48th St.) in midtown Manhattan.

2. You've done it before, and you gotta' keep doing it again -- pick up your phone and call Sen. Schumer, Sen. Gillibrand, and YOUR OWN member of Congress to thank them for their leadership, and tell them to "get health care done."

3. Take some friends and neighbors and go visit YOUR own member of Congress at his/her local district office. Show them New Yorkers want and need comprehensive health care reform. Be sure to share your own story of why and how health care reform is important to you.

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ACTION ALERT: January 25, 2010 -- Help Keep Health Care Reform Moving Forward in Congress

The next two days, before President Obama's State of the Union speech on this coming Wed. eve, will prove crucial to the future of health care reform efforts in Congress.  Proponents of reform are working together on various efforts to send a message to:

• keep moving forward on health care reform, don't stall out
• comprehensive reform is needed because incremental reforms won't do the job alone
• use the "budget reconciliation" process to finish up the bill

Here's who to call TODAY:

1.  Call Senator Schumer at both his NYC office (212-486-4430) and Capitol Hill office (877-264-4226.)

2.  Call Senator Gillibrand at both her NYC office (688-6262) and Capitol Hill office (877-264-4226.)

3.  Call YOUR own member of Congress at his/her Capital Hill office (877-264-4226) and his/her own district office (info available at www.house.gov)

...and one more thing TOMORROW:

Join one of several supportive rallies outside of local Rep.'s offices -- here's the link to what's happening where and when:
http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=202&id=&search_distance=30&search_zip=10016&submit=Search