Per Women Raising Voices...
http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/
The long-awaited Senate Finance Committee health reform bill has finally emerged from the anti-democratic and painfully extended negotiation process created by Committee Chair Max Baucus of Montana. The Baucus bill is bad for women and bad for our families in many ways. We urge women's health advocates to contact your Senators, especially if they are members of the Senate Finance Committee, and demand that the Baucus bill be amended in the Senate Finance Committee mark-up meetings next week and on the floor of the Senate. Deadline for submitting amendments is tomorrow, Friday September 18, so we must act quickly! If your Senator is not a member of the Senate Finance Committee, ask him or her to contact Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus to oppose this bill in its current form.
What is wrong with the Baucus bill? The Baucus bill fails to make health insurance affordable for women and our families. It sacrifices important features of the other proposals, such as the public plan option, in what appears to have been an unsuccessful attempt to woo Republicans. Not a single Republican has agreed to support it yet.Raising Women's Voices strongly opposes the bill as it stands today and is calling on Senators to amend and improve it in the Finance Committee mark-up next week and on the floor of the Senate. KEY PROBLEMS THAT NEED
TO BE ADDRESSED:
The bill imposes politics and ideology on what should be a purely medical decision - the question about what services an insurance plan will cover. It singles out abortion for special exclusions, rather than treating it like other medical care, by adopting language that was developed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee as a compromise to prevent anti-choice legislators from using the health reform bill as a vehicle to impose sweeping new restrictions on abortion. Reproductive health services are basic health care for women, and we urge the Finance Committee members to follow the lead of their colleagues on the Senate HELP Committee by passing legislation that puts the decisions about which services will be covered by insurance in the hands of medical experts and consumers who will make their decisions based on medical standards of care and scientific/medical evidence, not politics or ideology.
The bill fails to make health insurance affordable for low- and moderate-income people. It would mandate that everybody buy health insurance, and impose sizeable penalties on those who don't, but it doesn't make it possible for people to actually afford the insurance. One analysis found that a family of three earning $55,000 a year would be expected to pay $7,100 a year for insurance premiums, more than either the House bill or the Senate HELP committee bill would require. That's far too much to be affordable, and it doesn't even count out-of-pocket costs for co-pays and deductibles that will be charged on top of premiums!
The bill allows and even encourages insurance companies and employers to continue practices that are particularly damaging to women. It allows insurance companies to charge older people up to five times as much as younger people. The House bill allowed only a 2 to 1 ratio. Women, who live longer on average than men, are more likely to bear the costs of this age rating.
Moreover, the bill creates a disincentive for employers to hire low-income workers and especially low-income, single parents - the vast majority of whom are women.
The bill fails to ensure that all residents receive equal access to health coverage. We believe that health reform should give legal immigrants access to affordable coverage in the same way that it does for American citizens. Legal immigrants should have access to tax credits through the exchange, should be eligible for Medicaid without a waiting period and should not be subject to excessive verification requirements. In addition, we oppose efforts to bar people, regardless of immigration status, from using their own funds to buy health insurance through the exchange.
The bill does not establish an health insurance system that will provide a full range of choices to consumers, lower costs and make insurance companies accountable. The Baucus bill does not include a public insurance option, but instead provides a government-subsidized monopoly for private insurers. A robust public health insurance option would effectively compete with private insurers, giving people meaningful choice in their insurance purchasing decisions, helping to control costs and bringing greater accountability to the insurance industry. The co-op proposal included in the Baucus bill will not meet these objectives.
TAKE ACTION Please urge the members of the Senate Finance Committee to amend this bill so that it will represent a meaningful opportunity to make quality, affordable health care available to all women. Contact them TODAY, so your thoughts may be considered during the mark-up process.
Email your comments to your own Senators. In addition, please copy us at info@raisingwomensvoices.net so we know how many of you have raised your voices for quality, affordable health care that meets women's needs!
Let them know that you want their leadership in establishing quality, affordable health care for all women.
Remember to act quickly - now is the time to raise our voices and let the Senators know what we need.
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