SustiNet, Connecticut’s 2009 law and the new federal health care reform add up to peace of mind for families and businesses by providing health care that:
Offers quality health care choices for us all
Gives us more for our money
Keeps us healthy and takes care of us when we’re sick
SustiNet (CT Public Act 09-148) positions our state to be a national leader in health care reform by taking a bold, comprehensive approach to controlling health care costs, improving quality and increasing access.
Combined with the new federal health care reform laws, Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (HR 3590) and Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HR 4872), SustiNet puts Connecticut in the front of the line to leverage more federal resources to boost the state’s economy and help us achieve quality, affordable health care we can count on.
Following the historic passage of national health care reform, Senator Chris Dodd came back to the state last week to thank supporters and to highlight the many good benefits included in the bill. Sen. Dodd was joined by Congressman John Larson and CCAG Executive Director Tom Swan. Christine Stuart from CT News Junkie reported on the event:
Tom Swan, executive director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, said it’s with mixed emotions that he says the past 15 to 18 months have been the most productive for Dodd, who after 36 years is not running for re-election. He challenged the audience at Capitol Community College to find a senator who has done more in their six years than Dodd has done in less than two.
Swan said he looked forward to working with Dodd in the future on a “public option,” which was not included in the final bill.
Click here to view video of Tom Swan's remarks on the CCAG YouTube channel. (Videos by Fletcher Fisher)
We beat the insurance companies, and now the Affordable Health Care for America Act is the law of the land:
With the stroke of President Obama’s pen, his health care overhaul — the most sweeping social legislation enacted in decades — became law on Tuesday.
[...]
The landmark bill, passed by the House on Sunday night by a vote of 219-212, will provide coverage to an estimated 30 million people who currently lack it.
Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.
Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
Young adults will be able to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26. Many health plans currently drop dependents from coverage when they turn 19 or finish college.
Uninsured adults with a pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program that will expire once new insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.
A temporary reinsurance program is created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64. This also expires in 2014.
Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.
A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.
Read the rest of the benefits of the bill at this link.
Other news about the new national health care legislation:
On March 9, activists from Connecticut and all over the country converged on Washington D.C. to call out the insurance company executives gathering at the AHIP conference as the criminals they are. This Citizens' Posse rallied in our nation's capital to remind Congress and the President to listen to us, not corporate executives who stand in the way of a better America. The video at right was filmed at the citizens' arrest of the insurance companies.
Many carried signs fashioned like wanted posters, each with the picture and name of an HMO CEO, and the reasons for the arrest, such as denial of care, increasing premium costs, and so on. According to recent media reports, the five biggest health insurers made a $12-billion profit in 2009, up from $8 billion the year before. AHIP is reportedly spending $5 million a week to defeat the Democrats’ health-reform effort.
[...]
Tom Swan, executive director of Connecticut Citizens Action Group, called the protest a success. “We know we disrupted their conference,” he said, standing just outside the Ritz. “We clearly redefined sides (of the health-care debate). We saw a willingness to take more drastic action.”
"We're declaring this a crime scene!" bellowed Richard Trumka, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, to the roar of the crowd. AFL-CIO is a federation of about 60 labor unions.
Organizers of the protest said they brought about 5,000 people from across the United States to downtown Washington. They began their march in Dupont Circle, where they heard speeches from politicians and activists.
The five biggest health insurers made over $12 billion in profits last year, which is $8 billion more than the year before. They have achieved these obscene profits by raising their rates in many states by double digits and dropping over 2.7 million customers from their health insurance plans. What's more is that AHIP has spent hundreds of millions of dollars into ads that deliberately distort the truth and outright lie to health care consumers in an effort to block reform. If they win, we lose.
CCAG and HCAN are organizing a free bus that will leave from Wethersfield (with stops in West Haven, Trumbull & Stamford) on the evening of Monday March 8 to take Connecticut activists down to the protest march and lobby day in Washington.
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(1.) On Wednesday February 24th, together with allies from labor unions, progressive blogs, Health Care for America Now, MoveOn and others, we're participating a massive day of action: the Virtual March for Real Health Care Reform. We will tell Congress--through every single phone line, fax machine, and e-mail address, all day long--that it is time to stop stalling and get health care reform done right. Right now!
Our goal is to send one million messages to Congress that day. To reach that goal, we need everyone we know to join the virtual march. Will you sign up to join the virtual march on Washington, D.C.?Click here to sign up, and you will get a reminder from MoveOn to make your call.
(2.) On Thursday February 25th, we will gather at Center Church on the Green in New Haven to share our stories about health insurer's delaying or denying treatment. We will end with a candlelight vigil in memory of Melanie Shouse, a tireless campaigner for health care reform who worked closely with MoveOn and HCAN.
Witness and Vigil Details
Date: Thursday February 25th, 2010 Time: 6:00PM Place: 311 Temple Street, New Haven, CT 06511 [map]
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Many studies have documented the fact that patients of color are less likely to receive the same quality of medical care as whites, and that those differences often translate to worse health outcomes. The pattern holds up even after taking into account demographic factors such as income, education and health insurance status.
To figure out why this is, a group of researchers from Yale University’s School of Public Health and the Urban Institute focused on 133,821 patients who were treated for one of 10 surgical procedures at hospitals in New York City or the adjacent counties of Westchester (to the north) and Nassau (to the east) between 2001 and 2004.
The researchers picked New York City because of its diversity of ethnic groups and abundance of hospitals. They picked the 10 procedures – for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, coronary artery bypass graft, angioplasty, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, carotid endarterectomy and total hip replacement – because prior studies have shown that surgeons and hospitals who perform them more often produce better outcomes.
Carrying pitchforks and torches a group of labor unions and health care groups marched down Church Street in Hartford Tuesday night to let the state’s largest business lobby know that they want health care reform.
John Murphy of the Connecticut Citizens Action Group said the Connecticut Business and Industry Association symbolizes what the group is up against in its fight for quality, affordable health care.
CBIA makes most of its revenue from selling insurance to small businesses, Murphy said. He said it is blocking reform efforts because under a government run system health care system it would lose money.
In 2008, our country voted for change. We wanted health care reform because we know over 42,000 people die in America every year for lack of health care, and over 50% of our personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills. We wanted financial reforms that would stop greedy financial institutions from plunging us into the Second Great Depression. We wanted the wars of occupation to end and to rebuild our own country’s infrastructure. We wanted good jobs at good wages and action on climate change for our children and grandchildren. Collectively, we knocked on doors; made phone calls; cajoled our family, friends and neighbors and literally pulled strangers out of their homes to vote for change.
Members of Congress John Larson, Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro, Jim Himes and Chris Murphy teaming up with Senator Chris Dodd have worked hard to deliver the change we voted for. Unfortunately, health insurance companies, financial institutions, the US Chamber of Commerce and other big corporate interests are sabotaging our reform efforts and stopping the change we worked so hard for.
On Fat Tuesday (Tuesday, February 16) we will march against the opponents of change in downtown Hartford. We will gather at 5:00 PM at Christ Church Cathedral, 45 Church Street, Hartford (corner of Main and Church Streets across from the old G. Fox Building) for a short program and begin our march at 5:30 PM. Please join us to tell the health insurance companies and the corporate interests to stop opposing the change America needs!
P.S. If you don’t think we need health care reform in Connecticut, please watch the hundreds of underinsured and uninsured patients desperately seeking health services last week in Hartford click here to view it now.
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