Take Action: Congress Needs YOUR Voice on Affordable Health Care

Debate around national health care reform is heating up in Washington, D.C., providing an opportunity for stakeholders in the debate to weigh in.  While there has been much talk about what the government can afford to spend on health reform, there has been little dialogue about what average families can afford to pay for their health care.

Act now to make your voice heard!  Take this brief, ten minute Health Care Affordability Survey* (in English and Spanish) developed by Cover All Families by April 24th to ensure that the Senate Finance Committee knows what affordable health care means to your family.

Unless we define affordability, any attempt to reform the health care system is more likely to fail to expand coverage and will risk inflicting serious harm on families already coping with the burden of lack of insurance and often constrained financial resources.

Help advocates tell the Senate Finance Committee that:

• An affordability standard is essential to successful health reform.
• An affordability standard should be expressed as a progressive sliding scale relative to income.
• An affordability scale should not include an asset test which would unduly complicate its administration.
• An affordability scale should take into account premiums, deductibles, co-insurance, and co-payments.
• An affordability scale should be accompanied by a guarantee of standard benefits that protects people from the out-of-pocket costs that can be incurred when major categories of benefits are not covered or are unduly restricted.
• If an individual mandate is considered, there must be no requirement to purchase in the absence of an offer of affordable coverage that meets minimum benefit standards.

Health Care Affordability Survey Online (English and Spanish)

* Participants will need their income information, insurance information (if applicable), monthly rent/mortgage , monthly utility expenses and an estimate of other monthly expenses to complete the survey.  This survey does not ask identifying information and participants’ answers will remain confidential.