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2-26-10 This Week in Health Care Reform

ON CAPITOL HILL

The White House hosted its bipartisan health care summit yesterday with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders. The six-hour discussion was civil and robust, and although some areas of agreement emerged, lawmakers from both parties spent much of the day highlighting the differences in their respective approaches to health care reform. The summit ended without a bipartisan agreement for moving ahead on legislation, though Democrats made it clear that they would continue their efforts to pass a reform bill in the next four to six weeks, with or without Republican support.

Following the summit, leaders from both parties agreed that the meeting had been useful and constructive. Political analysts differed in their assessment of whether one party or another “won” the debate or whether the event was a draw, though there appears to be consensus that the summit did not dramatically alter the political dynamic surrounding health care reform.

Democrats have made clear that the budget reconciliation process, which cannot be filibustered and thus requires 51 votes instead of 60 to pass the Senate, remains an option for moving forward with a bill. Over the past week, House Democratic leaders expressed concern with voting on a “side-car” bill with changes to the Senate-passed legislation before the Senate does. But legislative experts agree that the House will have to go first because the Constitution requires budget-related legislation to originate from that chamber. Senate Democratic leaders responded to House leaders’ concerns today by indicating that they would ensure there are 51 Senate votes for a side-car bill before the House votes on that bill.  We are watching developments closely and will keep you updated; stay tuned.

GRASSROOTS UPDATE

The ACS CAN health care petition is live at http://www.healthcarepetition.org/. Its message to Congress is clear: take action NOW, not later, on meaningful health care reform.  Joining ACS CAN in this effort are a wide range of partner organizations including the Lance Armstrong Foundation, National Partnership for Women and Families, Families USA, Community Catalyst, Alpha Phi Alpha, PICO National Network, and SEIU.  We plan to collect signatures until mid-March, unless events merit moving forward sooner, and to organize national and state media events to deliver the petitions before and during Congress’ spring recess.  I urge you to sign the petition if you haven’t done so already, and use the “tell-a-friend” feature on the thank-you page of the Web site to promote it to your networks.  You may also want to link to the petition from your state or Division Facebook pages.  Additionally, we’ve created the attached off-line petition for use at local events. 

 

POLL SHOWS PUBLIC WANTS WORK TO CONTINUE ON REFORM

 

A new poll shows that a strong majority of the public wants Congress to continue working on health care reform. The Kaiser Family Foundation asked people how they would feel if Congress ended the debate without passing a bill. Overall, 58 percent of respondents said they want Congress to continue working, while 38 percent said they hoped the debate would end. The poll also confirmed what several other surveys have shown -- that there is broad public support for specific tenets of reform. For example, 76 percent of respondents support reforming the way health insurance works, such as by guaranteeing access to care regardless of preexisting conditions. And seven in ten respondents (71 percent) support creating a health insurance exchange that creates a marketplace in which people can shop for insurance. Other polls have shown strong public support for reducing or eliminating costs for screening tests and other preventive measures.

 

At ACS CAN, we think it is important to emphasize provisions in health reform legislation that have widespread support among the general public. ACS CAN's focus remains on how legislation will improve the system for people with cancer and their families.

 

IN THE STATES

ACS CAN continues to hear about proposed cuts in funding for state breast and cervical cancer programs, and reports indicate that some states are adjusting the coverage of mammograms through these programs based on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s recent change in its mammography guidelines.  We have also seen legislation that purports to improve coverage for women aged 40-49, but actually imposes additional barriers to screening for this age group.  The ACS CAN state and local team is working closely with Division staff in states that may change their guidelines, and we are monitoring legislation and budget developments around the country.  Please contact Carter Steger at 202-661-5727 or via Lotus Notes, if you have questions about state activities.

 

Molly Daniels

Interim President

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

 



Connecticut Updates

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