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Dear Neighbor:
As you may have heard, Congress and the President have been hard at work for months to develop legislation aimed at improving the health care system in America. It will be a major step in improving our economy. I wanted to share with you some of the latest events and resources about this critical issue.
Thanks for your interest!
July 17, 2009 Committee on Ways and Means Passes Historic Legislation to Provide Affordable, Quality Health Care for Americans
“Our current health care system is unaffordable, unsustainable and unacceptable,” said Congressman Higgins. “This nation has been talking about health care reform since 1948. This bill is not our ultimate destination but a start, providing a path forward to the goal of high quality, low cost health care that puts patients first.” (Full Story)
July 16, 2009 Discussion About Health Care Reform with The Ron Reagan Show on Air America Radio
“I think the American people want action. As I’ve often said, we don’t need an end to health care reform, we need a beginning. And no bill we are going to pass is going to get us to the destination that we want to be at but it puts us in the right direction.” (Listen)
July 13, 2009 Letter to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer Advocating a Patient-Centric, Physician-Driven, Public Not-For-Profit Health Plan
Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer outlining components essential to a national health care reform policy that benefits the American people.
(Full Story) (Congressman Higgins’ Letter)
July 5, 2009 Discussion about Cancer Research as Part of Health
Reform with Roswellness Radio Show on WBEN
“I am one who believes very strongly that at the center of health care reform is finding new treatments for cancer. There is very promising research going on throughout the nation and…we want them [those treatments] to become available but we also want them to be accessible.” (Listen)
June 27, 2009 Health Care Reform Rally at the Commercial Slip in Buffalo, In honor of National Health Care Day of Service
“The essential of health care reform is a public, not-for-profit option. I sit on the committee of jurisdiction, on the Ways and Means Committee, most of our time over the past six weeks has been dedicated to health care reform… This is an issue that affects all of us. We will do healthcare reform to create a system that promotes quality outcomes at affordable costs.“ (Watch)
June 24, 2009 Remarks to the Committee on Ways & Means
“What I want to talk about is America. In America today, there are 298 million people: 153 million have employer sponsored coverage, 15 million people have individual coverage, 81 million in Medicare and Medicaid and 46.7 million don’t have insurance—9 million of them are kids… The point here is if we’re going to do a not for profit plan, it should be designed to do one thing: it should be a countervailing force for a system that everybody agrees is unaffordable, unsustainable and unacceptable.” (Watch)
June 19, 2009 Statement on the Health Reform Discussion Draft
“This outline is the culmination of months of deliberation, and is the first concrete step toward reforming our health care system to reign in skyrocketing costs that threaten to bankrupt our families and government….A physician-driven, highly transparent, voluntary, not-for-profit public health plan option is necessary to truly reform our healthcare system and today we move closer to that goal.” (Full Statement)
Fact Sheets about America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
Organizations & Letters Expressing Support
For America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
- AARP
- AFL-CIO
- AFSCME
- AIDS Institute
- Alliance for Better Health Care Coalition:
- AARP
- Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy
- Aetna
- AFL-CIO
- Alliance of Community Health Plans
- American society of Health-System Pharmacists
- Center for Medical Consumers
- Coalition for Health Services Research
- Consumers Union
- Community Catalyst
- CVS Caremark
- Express Scripts
- Group Health Cooperative
- Health Dialog
- Kaiser Permanente
- Marshfield Clinic
- National Partnership for Women & Families
- SEIU
- American Academy of Family Physicians
- American Academy of Nursing
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- American College of Physicians
- American College of Surgeons
- American Medical Association
- American Osteopathic Association
- American Psychiatric Association
- American Public Health Association
- Association of Departments of Family Medicine
- Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors
- Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
- Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
- Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
- Breast Cancer Action
- Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
- Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund
- Center for Medical Advocacy
- Center for Medical Consumers
- Coalition of Full Service Community Hospitals
- Communications Workers of America
- Consumers Union
- Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
- Doctors for America
- Families USA
- Government Accountability Project
- Healthcare for America Now
- Infectious Diseases Society of America
- International Association of Firefighters
- International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
- Main Street Alliance
- March of Dimes
- National Association of Community Health Centers
- National Association of County & City Health Officials
- National Breast Cancer Coalition
- National Coalition on Health Care
- National Consumers League
- National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
- National Education Association
- National Medical Association
- National Physicians Alliance
- National Women’s Health Network
- National Women’s Law Center
- North American Primary Care Research Group
- Our Bodies Ourselves
- Pew Charitable Trusts & Community Catalyst
- SEIU
- Society of General Internal Medicine
- Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
- Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
- TMJ Association
- Trust for America’s Health
- United American Nurses
- United Auto Workers
- United Steelworkers
- US PIRG, Federation of State PIRGs
- US Women’s Chamber of Commerce
- Voices for America’s Children
- YMCA
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