Don’t make us come up there!
Posted September 11th, 2009 by Donna NortonOn Wednesday night, President Obama addressed Congress, saying, “The time for bickering is over.” That’s certainly music to every mother’s ears, regardless of political party.
Between our kids home for the summer and those crazy town hall meetings, we’re ready for some sanity. It’s time for Congress to finally get down to business and address our nation’s healthcare crisis.
In the immortal words of mothers everywhere, let’s tell Congress, “Don’t make us come up there! Get healthcare reform done now and get it right for kids and families!” Send a letter today
What do we mean by getting it right for kids and families? We mean health reform that includes:
* Ending unfair insurance practices such as rejecting applicants based on pre-existing conditions and setting insurance rates based on gender, health status, or age
* A strong public health insurance plan option that competes on an equal playing field with private plans and ensures choices for consumers
* Head to toe coverage for ALL children that meets their unique developmental needs
* Help for families with low and moderate incomes to cover the costs of health coverage and reasonable out of pocket expenses
We can get this done, but it’s going to take every one of us insisting that our leaders take action. We’ve got to make sure that crazy myths about health reform and partisan politics do not stop us from making progress on common sense solutions to our healthcare crisis. Seven out of ten working-age women have no insurance, are underinsured, or are in debt because of medical bills and millions of children still remain without healthcare.
Would any of us bet our lives that we will always have access to comprehensive health coverage or that our health coverage will be adequate to protect us if a health crisis hit our family? Without change, we’re all vulnerable. Tell Congress it’s time to end this threat to our health and economic security and to ensure that families have stable and secure health insurance: Send a letter now!
Thanks for your support of our nation’s families!
–Donna, Julia, Ashley, Anita, Dionna, Kristin, and the MomsRising Team
P.S. If you want to end the crazy negative rumors about health reform, join our MomsRising Truth Squad!
P.P.S. For more info on why we think the public option is an important component of health reform see this great article.
P.P.P.S. Big thanks to our friends at Children’s Defense Fund, First Focus, the National Women’s Law Center, and Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families for their help with this message!
2 Comments
September 11, 2009 at 10:53 am by HechiceraI sent the letter but modified the wording of one item. The phrase “that competes on an equal playing field with private plans” is associated with a house “Blue Dog” version of the public option.
That version of the public option was acceptable to them since it had so many clauses that limit it’s ability to compete with private plans. If the public becomes the last-choice resort of those difficult to insure due to high costs of their care, as it is very likely to be initially, the premiums of the public option under the rules of the “level playing field” rules would quickly become unaffordable. I am not in support of that kind of public option.
I was uncomfortable with repeating the exact phrase currently taken to mean support of the Blue Dogs. As a moderate independent who considers myself a centrist, I do not want to be associated with them. It’s already annoying that media routinely describes their views representing the “centrist” view now.
If you want to make it partisan neutral perhaps use
“A strong public health insurance plan option ensures choices for consumers”
I’d prefer
“A strong public health insurance plan option that helps provide an affordable choice for families”
from a mother’s standpoint.
It is important to me that my child with pre-existing conditions be able to find an affordable policy when he becomes an adult. He has worked incredibly hard to overcome his disabilities. We also have mothers currently going without insurance themselves, so they can afford the care of their child. They need an affordable choice as well. So, I’d rather highlight “affordable” than repeat a phrase that is associated with a specific partisan position.
But that’s just me. Thanks for the effort to put together a letter.
[Reply]
Donna Norton Reply:
September 11th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
@Hechicera, thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate the feedback. Donna
[Reply]
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