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.
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.
Now, more than ever, we need Congress to stand up to Republican obstructionism and corporate lobbyists and pass real health care reform, and pass it now. Voters voted for change in 2008 and they expect Congress to deliver.
It's time for Congress to get it done and get it done right, and there are two ways you can help:
Each House of Congress has passed a comprehensive health care reform bill, and a compromise between the two was in reach. One election in Massachusetts doesn't mean we can abandon reform now, just when we're so close to the finish line. We need to act fast to remind Congress that we support real reform, that they support real health care reform, and we expect them to finish the job.
Your calls today are important, but we must do more. Please join us at an emergency rally to save health care reform tomorrow.
Our Connecticut delegation (except for Sen. Lieberman) has done great work so far on health care reform. Connecticut Congressman John Larson has risen to Rahm Emanuel's leadership position within the Democratic caucus, so we will rally at Larson's Hartford office to send a message to Obama, Reid & Pelosi to stand up for us and stand up to the insurance industry!
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As you know, our Senior Senator Chris Dodd has been a champion for health care reform, standing firmly behind a public health insurance option, which 68% of Connecticut residents (and a large majority of the U.S.) support.
When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced earlier this week that a public option will be included in the Senate Bill, it was a direct result of Sen. Dodd's leadership on the issue.
And so Senator Reid deserves our thanks for standing with Chris Dodd -- and with us -- to put forward a health care bill with a public option. More importantly, since Senator Lieberman has threatened to side with Republicans and insurance companies, we want Senator Reid to turn a deaf ear to those threats. Let's tell Senator Reid that a majority of Connecticut residents stand with him and Senator Dodd, and urge them to pass health care reform with a public option, using the reconciliation process if necessary.
We, the undersigned residents of Connecticut, urge you on behalf of the 68% of our neighbors that want a public health insurance option to ignore Senator Lieberman’s threats to side with the Republicans and insurance companies in blocking real reform and to use the reconciliation process to pass the Kennedy/Dodd public option if necessary.
Please consider forwarding this message to your family, friends & neighbors, and as always thanks for all that you do.
John Murphy
CCAG Political Director
This is an e-mail that was recently sent to our Action Alert subscribers. To make sure you are always first to know about upcoming events, and actions you can take, please take a moment to sign up for e-mail action alerts:
Once you have clicked "Subscribe" be sure to check your e-mail for a message from us. You will need to confirm your subscription in order to receive e-mail action alerts. Note: You may need to use your browser's back button to return to this page.
Insurance companies like Aetna have a stranglehold over our health care system. They’re making record profits. They’re making our health care decisions. They’re putting profits before people. And they’re giving millions in campaign contributions to win reforms that will boost their profits and do nothing for the rest of us.
Every time insurance companies deny a claim, raise a premium, co-pay or deductible, or drop someone with a pre-existing condition, they make money. With health insurance CEOs taking home $690 million a year, it’s obvious that they’re making a “healthy profit.” But those “healthy profits” are making us sick.
So who wins, the insurance companies or us? If they win, we lose. That’s why we’re coming together in Hartford on Tuesday, September 22 to demand real reform.
Will you join us?
Date: Tuesday, September 22 Time: 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM Place: The Aetna Building
151 Farmington Avenue
Hartford, CT [Google Map]
Details on Parking:
There is no parking at the Aetna building; however, there are several lots that you can park in. If you feel as if you cannot walk the distance list from the lot to Aetna please call Ride Coordinator Duste Dunn at (203) 241-8403 to arrange a ride from volunteer shuttle drivers.
PARKING SITES
Legislative Office Building Parking Garage, 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford (0.5 miles to Aetna)
CCAG / Working Families Party / Real Artways, 30 and 56 Arbor Street, Hartford (1.2 miles to Aetna)
Handicapped and disabled drivers should contact John Murphy murphy@ccag.net or call (860) 995-3389 for instructions.
If you park on Hartford streets, please be sure to read the parking signs. They will write tickets and tow if you are illegally parked. Also, area businesses will have your vehicle towed if you park on their property without permission.
All of the latest information, along with any changes will be posted on the front page of the CCAG website. Right here.
The House and the Senate succeeded in overturning Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s veto of the SustiNet bill Monday, but the state Senate failed to overturn the Healthcare Partnership bill after one senator failed to vote even though she was still in the building.
“The insurance capital of the country just passed a bill that provides a framework for a public option,” Juan Figueroa, president of the Universal Health Care Foundation, said as he celebrated with supporters on the fourth floor of the state Capitol.
The passage of the SustiNet bill “really puts the state in a great position” as the national health care debate continues, Figueroa said.
On June 25, 2009 thousands of citizens from all across the U.S. came together at the nation's capital with a single message for Congress: "Health Care Can't Wait!"
Continue reading for more photos from the Connecticut groups' trip to D.C. and videos from the CT Health Care Town Hall meeting at the Capitol Visitor's Center.
President Barack Obama spoke to over 2,000 physicians at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association in Chicago, and explained why we health care reform must be our top priority.
The President explained the importance of a public option to meaningful health care reform (emphasis added):
The first thing we need to do is protect what’s working in our health care system. Let me repeat – if you like your health care, the only thing reform will mean is your health care will cost less. If anyone says otherwise, they are either trying to mislead you or don’t have their facts straight.
If you don’t like your health coverage or don’t have any insurance, you will have a chance to take part in what we’re calling a Health Insurance Exchange. This Exchange will allow you to one-stop shop for a health care plan, compare benefits and prices, and choose a plan that’s best for you and your family – just as federal employees can do, from a postal worker to a Member of Congress. You will have your choice of a number of plans that offer a few different packages, but every plan would offer an affordable, basic package. And one of these options needs to be a public option that will give people a broader range of choices and inject competition into the health care market so that [we can] force waste out of the system and keep the insurance companies honest.
SustiNet has passed the state House and Senate and will arrive on the Governor's desk very soon. Please add your name to the call for Governor Rell to sign SustiNet into law.
We need your signature on the petition, but we also need you to reach out to your friends, family, and networks and ask them to sign it as well. Time is short -- we want to have all of our signatures ready by Monday, June 15.
Once Governor Rell has the bill, we will deliver your signatures to her office. Tell Governor Rell -- Connecticut needs health care we can all count on!
Insurance companies like Aetna have a stranglehold over our health care system. They’re making record profits. They’re making our health care decisions. They’re putting profits before people. And they’re giving millions in campaign contributions to win reforms that will boost their profits and do nothing for the rest of us.
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