March 2010
The Benefits of Health Care Reform
In the 2nd Congressional District of Oregon
Committee on Energy and Commerce
The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on health care reform legislation. This legislation will
make health care affordable for the middle class, provide security for seniors, and guarantee access to
health insurance for the uninsured – while reducing the federal deficit by over $100 billion over the next
decade. This analysis examines the benefits of the legislation in the 2nd Congressional District of
Oregon, which is represented by Rep. Greg Walden.
In Rep. Walden’s district, the health care reform bill will:
Improve coverage for 417,000 residents with health insurance.
Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 217,000 families and 22,100 small businesses to help
them afford coverage.
Improve Medicare for 142,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
Extend coverage to 94,000 uninsured residents.
Guarantee that 17,800 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
Protect 1,400 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
Allow 57,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 39 community health centers.
Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $83
million annually.
A message from Trent Lutz, executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon. As you talk with neighbors and friends about this historic legislation, here are some things to say:
Talking Points: The Immediate Benefits of Health Reform
The health reform bill passed last night is a victory for all Americans -- families, seniors, workers and small businesses. Americans now have the security of knowing that they will not have to watch the American dream slip away if they get sick or are in an accident.
Beginning this year, health reform will bring down costs for families and small businesses, it will end the worst insurance company practices and it will expand coverage to millions of Americans.
This year, Americans will start to see significant benefits because of this bill and other important reforms will follow.
American families and small businesses will see costs go down immediately because of this bill.
In 2010 the bill will:
Make providing employee coverage more affordable for small businesses by giving a tax credit of up to 35% of premiums to small businesses that choose to offer coverage.
Create a temporary high-risk pool to provide affordable insurance options to adults who are denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
Provide a $250 rebate for Medicare recipients who fall in to the Part D donut hole - the first step towards closing the donut hole for good. The bill will also provide a 50% discount on prescription drugs which fall into the donut hole beginning in 2011.
Require new private plans to cover preventative care - with no co-payments or deductibles.
The Union County Democrats are planning a house party for March 24, 6-8 p.m. to welcome Joyce Segers to the county and to meet with our other local Democratic candidates. Joyce is running against Greg Walden for the second Congressional District seat. Visit http://joycesegers.com/ for more information.
We would dearly like someone to step forward and volunteer their home and will need other volunteers to bring an appetizer, dessert or beverage. If you are interested in opening your home, please send me an email. If you can bring food or beverage, contact Sharon Evoy at sharonevoy[at]eoni.com. Ideally, we need to hear from you within the next few days.
Here is our thinking on this party. While it would be lovely to have the meeting downtown and support a local business, we want the precious dollars that folks can spare to go to the candidates. This will be a friendly, simple drop-in open house. We will not attempt to coerce your vote or put you on a committee. This is a chance to say hello and have a conversation with our Democratic candidate(s).
It’s important to remember where we were when President Obama took office.
The President inherited the worst economic crisis in a generation, and our country was teetering on the edge of another depression.
The economy was losing 700,000 jobs a month on average.
Banks were in crisis and lending was frozen.
$10 trillion in wealth was lost in the stock market.
Now almost a year later, President Obama has taken necessary steps to stabilize our economy, put us on the road to recovery, and rebuild a new, stronger foundation for long term growth.
On the economy, equal rights, our health care system, our energy policy, our financial regulatory system, the environment, valuing science and service, restoring our reputation around the world and setting the special interests straight, President Obama is enacting an ambitious agenda that is helping to get our economy moving again and changing the way things in Washington get done.
Submitted by Anonymous on August 6, 2009 - 11:53am
Dear colleagues: We are at a potentially watershed moment in history. For the first time ever single-payer health insurance will be voted upon on the floor of the House of Representative following the current congressional recess. We need your support. Please contact Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) and urge support for the Weiner amendment to HR 3200. The Weiner amendment substitutes the language of HR 676 (the Conyers/Kucinich single payer bill) for most of the language in HR3200. I met with Rep. Walden when I was in Washington, DC for the Medicare:Made in America single-payer rally and lobby day last week. I contended that single-payer is the most fiscally conservative approach to health insurance reform. He listened attentatively and asked his staff to review the materials I left for him. I believe there is a possibility that he will support single-payer if enough constituents contact him.
Speaker Pelosi agreed to a House floor vote in order to avoid the possibility of Republicans joining progressive Democrats and winning the substitution in committee, to the embarrassment of the Democratic leadership. The fear was that, having transformed the bill in committee, Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats wouold kill any possibility of legislation on the floor.
We need to mobilize progressive Democrats and allies to urge our representatives to support the Weiner amendment. With your help history is ours for the making. Thanks for all you are doing. Please share this information with colleagues throughout Oregon.
The PNHP memo below contains full detils and provides a lnk to Kaiser Family Foundation side by side analysis of all the health insurance reform proposals currently before Congress.
Bill Whitaker
SCC Delegate for the Democratic Party of Oregon
Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States. Together with him we are facing some of the greatest challenges of our lifetimes. If President Obama is to succeed, he needs to hear from us. He needs our help.
When Barack Obama was declared our 44th President, you didn't just revel in that victory -- you started asking what's next for this movement. More than 40 people gathered in La Grande at a sharing session organized through the Rural Organizing Project. Thousands of similar house meetings were held in communities throughout the United States.
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