UPDATE! Sen. Murray is taking your questions here!
Posted November 11th, 2009 by Anita**UPDATE!!** Thanks to everyone who has contributed comments and questions to this discussion, here as well as through Facebook and Twitter. The five questions have been chosen, and the Senator will tape her answers early next week. (With a short break in voting in DC, Senator Murray has flown back to her home state of Washington to meet with constituents.) We will post the video on this blog and look forward to discussing her answers with you.
1. CHIP has been a great success to help kids in need get healthcare. While the Senate Finance Committee has agreed in principle to continue CHIP, it actually allows funding for the program to end in 2013. What are your thoughts on how we can be sure that health reform legislation includes funding for this important program as long as kids need it, or at least for the first few years of transition to the new world of health reform?
2. What ideas do you have for making sure that coverage for kids in the insurance exchange is affordable and provides kids with benefits tailored to their unique developmental needs?
3. Is it going to be 4 or more years before health reform will be fully up and running? What ideas do you have about the best way to make sure that states continue moving forward in covering children in need over the next several years before health reform is in place?
4. How will health reform help the many mothers who are working part-time or as contract or temporary workers and who don’t have avenues for health coverage through their employers? And what safety net will health reform provide working mothers who lose their jobs in this bad economy?
5. How can you make sure that healthcare is affordable for low and moderate income families and that the subsidies for families are adequate?
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Exciting news! Senator Murray of WA is taking *your* questions on health reform! MomsRising members can ask her our questions about how health reform will particularly impact women, children and families. Now is the time to make your voice heard directly to a US Senator! Post your questions here BY MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 at 2 PM PST/ 5 PM EST; she will be selecting and answering some member questions via video that we’ll share on this blog.
Not sure what to ask? Here are some questions that might get you started.
Never fear, your questions don’t have to be long or based in expert knowledge! We want your questions, so come as you are and post in the comments below!
11 Comments
I see that we have trouble attaining universal health care for all Americans so I hope we can start universal health care for children?
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November 8, 2009 at 3:17 pm by curt linderman srI cannot wait until 2010 when we can get you commies out of office. You want to pass “Health Care” Reform, yet still ignore autism. tax and spend, that’s all you idiots do. I seriously hope that the independants that acctually understand and FOLLOW the constitution are finally in office in 2010. Good riddence to all you morons!!!!!
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November 8, 2009 at 12:13 pm by DeniseI have heard that about 50 million WORKERS are not given paid leave. It came up in some report about the H1N1 virus and how many are remaining at work despite the looming epidemic. It seems that the government is attempting to address this issue thru mandating sick leave of 4 days for those workers most likely to spread their illness to the workplace. I have to “assume” that many in this population are contract or part time employees. Another assumption is that the people they work for don’t extend them any health care benefits. As a former worker who has gone thru lean times by juxtaposing numerous odd jobs to make ends meet, I have been concerned about this trend which allows businesses to legally exempt themselves from providing insurance and other benefits like paid leave. How can we address this inequity that is more prevalent than news sources have brought into the discussion about reforming health care for this HUGE block of WORKING Americans, many of them mothers? When I worked under this condition, I was predictably told to leave work or not to come to work when my hours for the week approached 40. It was an insult to me and my worth as a loyal employee when I most needed the assistance of this basic benefit.
The same was true for my sister who worked among 6 temps and 1 full-time employee when she knew that her “national chain” was manipulating its employee demographics to keep from having 2 or 3 full-time workers hired on. It is no wonder we are in such a pickle regarding health care options. I hope we are able to attain a public option for these workers.
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patriot Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 10:23 am
@Denise, “…I have been concerned about this trend which allows businesses to legally exempt themselves from providing insurance and other benefits like paid leave. How can we address this inequity…?” You can’t if you still want to live in a free market society. It is true, you won’t always find part-time and contract positions that come with these benefits (especially during lean times). There is a reason for that: businesses cannot afford to provide these benefits and still maintain a profit (which they need to do to keep their doors open). Legislation continues to force businesses to provide these benefits, so businesses must look for ways to circumvent these expenses. It is true, that some businesses abuse the loopholes and its workers. The beauty of a free market society is that people can CHOOSE to work for security and less money, or less security and more money. I believe that being sent home for nearing a 40-hr. work week was a compliment to your productivity, not an insult (though I’m sure it didn’t feel like it at the time). But if part-time and contract workers want to press for legislation that mandates what benefits businesses must provide, please consider these two questions first: “Do I want guaranteed benefits IF I find work?” or “Do I want to find work?”
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What is the most effective way to move the bill in the senate to a vote?
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November 7, 2009 at 8:12 am by Janet HuttonWhat provisions will health care reform have for working mothers? According to The Shriver Report (2009) the “new normal” highlighting a change in family structure indicates that working mothers as primary breadwinners make up 67.9%. With the reality of mothers as breadwinners, what benefits can they expect if they become unemployed. At present my home state (NJ) has insurance for children if a parent suddenly becomes uninsured however the parent is at the mercy of cobra or a private plan. Additionally, has anyone considered provisions that bind employers to provide leave time for healthcare? Not all working mothers have “open-flexible” work. Has anyone considered provisioning the requires employers to provide paid health care leave for medical appointments? I know all too many women who put of necessary checkups and medical treatment because there employer will not permit workplace flexibility or leave time for regular treatment.
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November 7, 2009 at 1:06 am by AnitaSubmitted by direct msg on Twitter: How can this be reform if there is no RX cost reform & pediatric specialty costs are not addressed?
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November 6, 2009 at 11:14 pm by AnitaGreat question! Thank you for submitting it, Clarissa.
Everyone, feel free to share your ideas and comments! We’ve got until Monday at 2 PM PST/ 5 PM EST to compile them. Thanks!
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November 6, 2009 at 9:27 pm by Clarissa JaremInstead of having multiple programs like CHIP, medicaid, medicare, and veterans affairs; why can’t we just have one program that does everything the other programs already do and then some? Instead of worrying about medicare funding why not just apply that budget to the single payer system and provide coverage to the elderly? I don’t understand why the anyone would want to add another program when they could reform all the existing programs and compile them into one. It sounds like simplification to me and I don’t know why that option isn’t being discussed.
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Anonymous Reply:
November 10th, 2009 at 10:39 am
@Clarissa Jarem, The different health care programs evolved over time to address special needs as they arose. That is why they are not in one comprehensive plan. Putting them under one comprehensive plan sounds like a great idea. The problem is that this one comprehensive plan (that is being proposed) goes well beyond addressing the needs of these and new special needs groups, and mandates that EVERY AMERICAN’s health care be controlled by government. It also extends well beyond health care, and begins to control access to funding, manipulating the private sector, individual’s banking and personal finances, and CHOICE. Our health care reform should fix loopholes (especially ones that allow government to rob from one program to pay another) and provide services for specifically identified groups of need that can’t be met through the private sector. H.R. 3400, a little-talked about bill does exactly that. It allows people to get insurance across state lines where it may be cheaper. It provides for insurance pools that make it more affordable for low-income people. It includes tort reform so medical costs become more reasonable. And contains other measures that fix our current broken programs, and address newly-identified special needs groups.
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