Texas Voice for Health Reform Weekly Update
In This Issue
Action
News and Updates
- Texas: CPPP Responds to Governor Perry’s Press Conference On Health Reform
- Washington, DC: Public Plan Buzz
Resources
- New from Texas Voice for Health Reform!
- Compassion Deficiency
- What’s in Health Reform for Kids?
- Faith Community and Health Reform
Calendar
Action
Get Out to Health Reform Events!
For the next few weeks there is a myriad of health reform events around the state of Texas and the country. We have tried to post all the activities that we know about in our online calendar. Highlights for the next week include:
- Town hall forums for Representatives Barton, Green, Olson, Gonzales, and Brady
- Canvassing in Dallas, Mission, and Edinburg
- Phone Banking in Dallas and Houston
- And several virtual events via phone or internet…even if you can get there, you can be there!
Picture Health Reform! is a project to collect photographs of Texas individuals, families, and communities who want to send a positive health reform message to their member of Congress and their community. Visit our action page to learn how you can participate!
News and Updates
Texas: CPPP Responds to Governor Perry’s Press Conference On Health Reform
The Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) this week released a statement from CPPP Associate Director Anne Dunkelberg decrying attacks made against Medicare and Medicaid during the governor”s press conference on health reform.
Washington, DC: Public Plan Buzz
In the aftermath of the Sunday morning talk-show circuit, headlines are awash with word that the White House is backing off its insistence on a public plan option, though the Obama administration remains firm that the provision is still an important piece of its health reform vision.
Compromises are on the table, but they may not satisfy anyone. Both the HELP and Energy and Commerce Committees now have proposals that would allow the public insurance plan to negotiate rates with providers, with a backstop that rates be no higher than typical private insurance rates. The CBO has projected that far from crowding out private insurers, the public plan as currently designed will enroll approximately 10 million people, most of whom are currently uninsured.
Proponents of the public option are concerned that it has been hamstrung, and as a result, will fail to exert downward pressure on health care costs. Opponents still argue that the pressure to tilt the playing field in favor of the public plan will grow over time. The question is whether House Blue Dogs, many of whom only wanted the public plan as a fallback option, and House progressives, many of whom have vowed not to support a bill without a strong public plan, can come together beyond the Energy and Commerce Committee. For more up-to-date information, see Community Catalysts’ website.
Resources
New from Texas Voice for Health Reform!
Visit our website to find out why Small Businesses are Big Winners in Health Reform.
The Center for Public Policy Priorities also released updated fact sheets to set the record straight on national health reform:
- What’s In It For Texas? illustrates why, among the United States, Texas has the most to gain from health reform.
- Texas Health Facts summarizes the health care crisis in Texas.
Key Questions about Changes for Medicaid and Low-Income Individuals: HR 3200 America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009
This Kaiser Foundation brief highlights some key questions about provisions related to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and provisions that affect low-income individuals included in HR 3200, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act 2009 (the House Tri-Committee Bill).
Compassion Deficiency
“The real U.S. healthcare issue: compassion deficiency” is a must-read from the Christian Science Monitor.
What’s in Health Reform for Kids?
See the Georgetown Center for Children and Families and First Focus side-by-side resources comparing draft health reform legislation’s provisions for children.
Faith Community and Health Reform
Sojourners has just launched a new rapid response online website: Sojourners’ Health Care Reform Resources. The site includes:
- Sojourners’ Health-Care Creed
- Sojourners’ Guide to the Health-Care Reform Debate
- Sojourners’ two-page flyer with health-care reform facts and values
Calendar
Please email quongcharles@cppp.org if you have health reform activities for our calendar. For the most up-to-date calendar events and details, visit our online calendar of events.
August
- 20th: Online Forum with President Obama
- 20th: Houston Phone Bank
- 20th: Representative Barton Town Hall meeting
- 20th: Representative Gene Green Town Hall meeting
- 20th: Representative Olson Town Hall meeting
- 22nd: Representative Gene Green, 14th Annual Immunization Day
- 22nd: Houston Tax-Free Weekend Events
- 22nd: Mission and Edinburg Canvass
- 22nd: Dallas Canvass
- 23rd: TVHR presents at Gray Panthers Annual Forum, AFL-CIO Hall,
Austin, TX - 24th: El Paso Phone Bank
- 24th: Representative Gonzales Town Hall meeting
- 25th: El Paso Phone Bank
- 25th: Representative Olson Town Hall meeting
- 26th: Representative Brady Town Hall meeting
- 26th: Representative Olson Town Hall meeting
- 26th: El Paso Phone Bank
- 27th: Representative Brady Town Hall meetings
- 27th: Dallas Phone Bank
- 27th: El Paso Phone Bank
- 28th: El Paso Phone Bank
- 29th: Mission and Edinburg Canvass
- 29th: Austin Rally – Details TBA
- 29th: Representative Olson Town Hall meeting
- Date TBA: Dallas Area Interfaith House Meeting on Health Reform
September
- 1st: Representative Green Town Hall meetings
- 8th: Representative Burgess Town Hall meetings
- 11th: Deadline to submit entries in Texas Impact’s Health Reform
Sermon Contest - 14th: League of Women Voters open meeting
- 15th: League of Women Voters open meeting
- 16th: League of Women Voters open meeting
