Stand Firm in Support of Comprehensive Health Reform - Pass the Senate's Bill!

Stand Firm in Support of Comprehensive Health Reform - Pass the Senate's Bill!

Greetings,

On behalf of the HIV Health Care Access Working Group, I am writing to urge you to stand firm in support of comprehensive, meaningful health reform and to work to make the long overdue promise of health reform a reality for the millions of uninsured Americans, including many with HIV/AIDS, who urgently need it. The HIV Health Care Access Working Group is a coalition of 84 national and community-based AIDS service organizations representing HIV medical providers, advocates and people living with HIV/AIDS and providing critical HIV-related health care and support services.

We strongly urge passage of the Senate bill or other avenues of enacting a comprehensive reform package that includes the essential components already approved by both the House and the Senate:

* A largely federally funded expansion of Medicaid to low income individuals
* An exchange or regulated marketplace for the uninsured and the underinsured to purchase health insurance
* Generous subsidies to make coverage affordable for those who need it
* Stricter regulations that govern the private market preventing discrimination
* An investment in reorienting our health system to focus on prevention and public health
* Critical measures to address primary care and public health medical workforce shortages

We strongly oppose efforts to craft a pared-down bill that only includes the most popular measures of reform without taking the comprehensive and bold steps necessary to dramatically reduce the number of Americans without health coverage and ensure meaningful access to health care for all Americans.

We do not believe that the vote in Massachusetts was a referendum on health care reform. In fact, as you know, Massachusetts has a health care system that serves as a model for national reform -- with 98% of its residents covered and insurers not allowed to deny people based on pre-existing conditions. One state's election and the changeover of one Senate seat must not dictate whether or not we end the national shame of Americans getting sick and going bankrupt because of lack of affordable health coverage. Nor can we allow the insurance companies and other special interests to control this agenda. If Congress does not move quickly to pass meaningful reform, we will have lost the greatest opportunity in decades to substantially improve the health and lives of all Americans.

In addition, we strongly urge you to consider our Working Group's priorities outlined below. These provisions are needed to improve and expand access to care for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS, who are among the nation's most vulnerable.

People with HIV, those with other chronic conditions, and all uninsured and under-insured Americans are counting on Congress to work together and finalize meaningful health care reform legislation. We cannot abandon this vital effort.
For more information, please contact HIV-HCAWG co-chairs Laura Hanen of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors at (202) 434-8091 or Robert Greenwald of the Treatment Access Expansion Project at (617) 390-2584.

The following are the HIV-HCAWG Priorities for the Final Health Care reform Bill:

Include HR 3962 Sec.1721 to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care to Medicare levels. Current Medicaid rates are inadequate to cover the cost of providing HIV care. Addressing reimbursement rates is vital to achieving a meaningful expansion of health care coverage through Medicaid.

Ensure that infectious disease programs, including HIV, are eligible for new public health and prevention funding under HR 3962 Sec.2301 and HR 3590 Sec.4002. New funding under ARRA excluded infectious disease programs, making new investment in these programs a critical part of health care reform.

Include HR 3962 Sec.2301's $34 billion in mandatory funding for community-based prevention programs over the next 10 years. Stabilizing the nation's public health system and expanding the delivery of HIV prevention programs are essential to reducing the number of new infections.

Retain HR 3962 Sec.1731 to incentivize states to expand Medicaid to people living with HIV prior to the general Medicaid expansion. This provision will help low-income people with HIV receive the care and treatment they need to prevent disease progression and disability.

Include HR 3962 Sec.Sec.343, 344 regarding sliding scale-based premium and cost-sharing credits and annual cost-sharing caps. Cost sharing poses a significant barrier to health care for people with HIV and others with chronic conditions whose health relies on regular access to medical care and treatment. Health care will be much more affordable for the poorest individuals and families under the House bill.

Include HR 3590 Sec.3314 and HR 3962 Sec.1184 allowing state AIDS Drug Assistance Program and Indian Health Service payments to count toward individuals' Medicare Part D out-of-pocket spending requirement.

Include HR 3962 Sec.2526, allocating $50 million for a "Healthy Teen Initiative" to provide state grants for evidence-based teen pregnancy and HIV and STI prevention programs, and remove HR 3590 Sec.2954 restoring state funding for abstinence-only programs.

Sincerely,

[Your name]