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1-29-10 This Week in Health Care Reform

ON CAPITOL HILL

 

Last weekend, the American Cancer Society Board of Directors passed a resolution calling for the White House and all members of the House and Senate – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – to work together to quickly move forward on a meaningful health care bill that will provide all Americans with access to quality, affordable care, enhance disease prevention and wellness services, and improve the quality of life for cancer patients and survivors.  ACS CAN sent the resolution and a cover letter urging action now, not later, on health reform to the President and congressional leaders of both parties, as well as to the media. Our press release, which links to the resolution and cover letter, can be found here [link to http://acscan.org/mediacenter/view/id/256/].  Patch-through calls reiterating this message will begin to ten targeted Senators – Republican, Democrat and Independent – next week.

On Wednesday night, Americans who have been engaged in the health care debate closely watched President Obama’s State of the Union address, and we at ACS CAN were no exception.  Nearly 200 American Cancer Society and ACS CAN staff and volunteers participated in a virtual State of the Union watch party, participating in the online chat to give their thoughts on the speech in real time.  Participation was lively, with more than 1,700 individual comments posted throughout the speech.  

The way forward is still uncertain.  One of the most frequently mentioned options is for the House to pass the Senate bill as is, eliminating the need for another Senate vote.  This would only happen if there is a separate bill with some of the changes that the House was considering before the Massachusetts special election.  This separate bill would be taken up through a process known as reconciliation, which requires 51 votes for Senate passage.  While this procedure is not without controversy because it is used to circumvent a filibuster, it has been used in the past to pass major legislation [e.g. the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)].

So while there are a lot of behind-the-scenes negotiations taking place, it is not certain just yet when or how a health care bill will move forward.  But as I said last week, Congress must not quit this fight.  Cancer patients need action now, not later on health care reform.

As always, thanks for all you do every day for those touched by cancer.

 

Molly Daniels

Interim President

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

 



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