You have to see this video.
On Tuesday thousands of everyday people performed a citizens’ arrest on the insurance companies who were meeting in Washington, D.C. to plot to kill health care reform. I’ve never seen so much energy in a crowd before. You have to watch!
It’s getting down to the final push for health reform.
The House is preparing to pass the health care bill the Senate passed in December, along with a package of improvements to that bill. Those improvements will then be sent to the Senate for an up-or-down vote, with the goal of having President Obama sign both bills by the end of the month.
The House may vote on these bills as early as this coming week, and the vote is going to be close. Many Representatives will try to take the side of the insurance industry instead of the side of the American people. It’s up to us to make sure they hear what America wants – real health care reform, now!
The health care package being considered by Congress isn’t everything we wanted. But the bills will do a world of good for everyone in America. Here’s how:
- If you have insurance, you can keep it. But insurance companies won’t be allowed to spike premiums every year and will have their profits and administrative expenses subject to federal and state scrutiny.2
- If you lose your coverage or need to buy insurance on your own for any reason, insurance companies won’t be able to deny you coverage and they can’t charge you more because you’re sick or because you’re a woman. If you get sick, your insurance company won’t be able to cancel your insurance retroactively like they do today. Preventative care will be free and young people can stay on their parent’s insurance policy until they are 26. And small businesses and individuals will be offered steep subsidies so everyone can afford coverage.3
- Insurance companies will no longer be able to sell junk insurance. If you’re buying insurance on your own, insurers will have to offer plans with a standard comprehensive benefit package, they will be required to spend 85% of your premium dollars on your medical care, they will no longer be able to cap your benefits, and your out-of-pocket costs will be limited – severely reducing their profits and bad practices.
- And, if you’re uninsured, you will be able to purchase insurance you can afford. In all, 30 million uninsured will get good coverage, saving an estimated 30,000 lives per year.
In addition, the fixes being put to an up-or-down vote will dramatically cut back the burden of the so-called "Cadillac tax" on working families, increase subsidies so everyone can afford insurance, and fully close the Medicare donut hole for seniors.
There’s a lot to support in these bills, and the staus quo is unacceptable.
If these bills fail, if we lose this chance for health reform, we won’t get it again for decades. If these bills fail, if we let the insurance companies win, the insurance industry will get to continue on with business as usual.
We’ve come so far, and these bills do so much good for so many. We can’t turn back now.
It’s time for Congress to choose which side they’re on: Will they listen to us and pass health reform? Or will they listen to the insurance companies and doom America to more needless deaths, bankruptcies, and denials of care?
We’re at the finish line. Only a few more votes are left. Let’s win this thing!
To your health,
Levana Layendecker
Health Care for America Now
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