TAKE ACTION for Health Care Reform and Family-to-Family Health Information Center Funding
This is a very exciting time in Washington, as we wait on pins and needles for THE vote on health care reform, which is expected to take place on Sunday afternoon or evening.
Family Voices supports the legislation as it would provide a number of benefits for children/youth with special health care needs and their families and would extend funding for Family-to-Family Health Information Centers (F2F HICs) for an additional three years.
There are actually two bills to be considered Sunday, most likely in a single vote. The first bill is the Senate version of the health care reform bill (H.R. 3590) -- which includes the three-year funding extension for F2F HICs. If that bill is passed by the House, it will go to the President for his signature and become the law of the land.
The second bill is the so-called “reconciliation” bill, which, if passed in the House, will go to the Senate for its consideration. This could take a week or more. The reconciliation bill makes changes to the Senate version of health care reform legislation that, generally, would make it somewhat closer to the version passed by the House in November. Among other things, the combination of the Senate and reconciliation bills would:
- Include a prohibition on lifetime limits, prohibition on rescissions, limitations on excessive waiting periods, and a requirement to provide coverage for non-dependent children up to age 26 to all existing health insurance plans starting six months after enactment. (For coverage of non-dependent children prior to 2014, the requirement on group health plans is limited to those adult children without an employer offer of coverage.)
- For group health plans, prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions beginning in 2014, restrict annual limits beginning six months after enactment, and prohibit them starting in 2014.
- Expand Medicaid to cover all individuals up to 133% of the federal poverty level.
A summary of the combined legislation can be found at http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/SUMMARY.pdf. For additional information, visit http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1931:health-care-reform&catid=169:legislation&Itemid=55.
If you would like to contact your Representative about the vote, you can call him/her through the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121. Since the Capitol switchboard is likely to be very busy, you might want to call the Representative’s office directly – either in DC or in your district. You can find his/her phone numbers at www.house.gov. Click on the Representative’s name (which can be found at “Representatives” or by entering your zip code) to get to his/her website, which will provide contact information.
To find out your Representative’s position (current as of a few days ago), visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/votes/house/finalhealthcare/?hpid=topnews. For a more up-to-the-minute status report, go to http://thehill.com/homenews/house/85693-whip-watch-the-hills-survey-of-house-dems-positions-on-healthcare-.
More information about how the legislation will help children/youth with special health care needs and/or disabilities their families can be found at the Family Voices Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/familyvoices/home/.
* If you would like to watch the vote, you can do so on C‑SPAN or on C-SPAN’s website at www.c-span.org. The House will go into session at 1:00 Sunday.
