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Here are a list of Democratic Senators that have expressed an undecided or no public position to the government Health Care Bill. Please start your calling and writing campaign TODAY asking them to vote "NO". For info on how to contact click here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_i ... rs_cfm.cfm
Openly opposed to the public option: (2)
*Mary Landrieu, D-LA
*Joe Leiberman, D/I-CT
Can't make up their minds or no firm public position: (20)
*Ben Nelson, D-NE
*Bill Nelson, D-FL
*Blanche Lincoln, D-AR
*Byron Dorgan, D-ND
*Diane Feinstein, D-CA
*Evan Bayh, D-IN
*Harry Reid, D-NV
*John Tester, D-MT
*Kay Hagan, D-NC (though she recently said she would support the public option)
*Kent Conrad, D-ND
*Maria Cantwell, D-WA
*Mark Begich, D-AK
*Mark Pryor, D-AR
*Mark Udall, D-CO
*Mark Warner, D-VA
*Max Baucus, D-MT
*Michael Bennett, D-CO
*Robert Byrd, D-WV
*Ron Wyden, D-OR
*Tom Carper, D-DE SAMPLE LETTER I used:
Dear Senator X,
I am asking you to vote "NO" on 3962, Health Care Reform, as presently presented to the US Senate. The reasons for my opposition are many, but please allow me to make a few relevant points from our President and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
President Obama told a New Hampshire town-hall meeting in September that "if we're able to get something right like Medicare, then there should be a little more confidence that maybe the government can have a role." A transcript of the President's speech can be found here: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washing... .
So, did the government really get Medicare right? Here is what the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons had to say: 1. "...[flaws with the reimbursement]formula have been so pronounced that Congress has been forced to pass annual temporary measures to keep the system from completely falling apart."
2. "Provisions in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) mandated that CMS increase the conversion factor by at least 1.5 percent in both 2004 and 2005, but did not provide for additional funds to pay for this temporary fix. As a result, the money used to fund the increase must be paid back to the Medicare program, with interest, over the next 10 years."
3. "The Deficit Reduction Act repealed a 4.4 percent cut that went into effect on January 1, 2006, and froze the conversion factor at the 2005 level. The freeze was paid for by cutting reimbursements for other physician services, mainly imaging services."
4. "Decreases in reimbursements will likely prompt many physicians, especially specialty physicians, to reconsider their participation in the Medicare program."
5. "...the present system inadequately accounts for costs and savings from new technologies ..."
6. "... physicians will continue to receive negative updates of approximately 5 percent each year. Regardless of inflation and increases in practice costs, physicians will receive less reimbursement in 2013 than they did in 2002 for the exact same procedure."
7. "The passage of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (HR 6331) halted the 10.6 percent cut in payments to physicians, scheduled to take effect July 1, but guaranteed a 21 percent reduction in 2010."
8. "The true cost of the drug entitlement expansion is still unknown, and the cost projections could be understating the real cost. In 2003, Congressional and White House analysts estimated that the 10-year cost of the program would be in the range of $500 billion to $600 billion; who can say what it will cost when the baby-boomer generation becomes eligible?"
9. "[Reform programs like] HR 6331 [supported by President Obama] would place 2.3 million seniors at risk of losing the health plan coverage of their choice."
10. "... the Medicare program is projected to consume more than half of federal income taxes by 2042."
I have no confidence that the federal government can reform health care if Medicare is held up by the President as the model of hope. The AMA is also a minority group of physicians, representing less than 30% of medical practitioners.
Please vote "No", and let's begin to have a real debate on reform that will make a difference.
Regards,
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