-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Majordomo Account [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf
Of Justice For All Moderator
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2000 10:48 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Promote Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Justice For All
[log in to unmask]
Promote Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
Jeff Kirsch, [log in to unmask], writes:
Friends, this is an important note about a special opportunity to promote
the
Medicare prescription drug issue. Please pass it along to your colleagues.
The upcoming Congressional recess (starting April 15 - one week for the
Senate, and two for the House) is an important opportunity to keep the
Medicare prescription drug issue front and center in the media and on the
agenda of Congress. The Democratic leadership in the House of
Representatives
is encouraging all Democratic House members to plan a "district event day"
around the prescription drug issue on Wednesday, April 26th. These
Representatives are being encouraged to hold some kind of event to highlight
the issue and make some news.
We encourage you to immediately contact Democratic Representatives in your
area. Ask them if they have a prescription drug event planned for April
26th.
If they do, try to participate to get your viewpoint into the event. If not,
encourage them to do an event, and suggest ways they can work with you to
promote the need for an affordable prescription drug benefit for all
Medicare
consumers.
There are all sorts of events you can do with your Member of Congress. You
might consider holding a community forum about the issue, where the
legislator
and others can hear from Medicare consumers (seniors and people with
disabilities) and health professionals (including pharmacists) about the
need
for action on prescription drugs. Senior centers are great locations for
these
because it's easier to do turn out and there are decent "visuals" for TV
cameras. Other groups might try to do a press conference with the member
(preferably at a "photogenic" site, like a pharmacy, hospital, or senior
center) that tries to make news on the issue; and others might simply try to
schedule a meeting with the member that can bring together a coalition of
groups (which, if done in a good setting and with good press work, might get
some press coverage).
These local events should be geared to getting media coverage, but it's also
important that you use the opportunity to improve your relationship with the
Representatives and their staff on this and other health issues. You want to
make sure they understand your concerns about the issue, and you want them
to
have an appreciation for what you know and what kind of work you are doing
on
health care issues.
Other things you can do to promote prescription drug coverage for Medicare:
- Continue to raise the issue in every forum you can, including candidate
events and with the media, and generate events to get public (and media)
attention. Urge all your Members of Congress and candidates to support a
universal, affordable drug benefit as part of Medicare. They need to know
this
is an important issue that cannot be ignorred or merely "lip serviced."
- Make sure your Representative and Senators are co-sponsoring the drug
price
anti-discrimination bill by Representative Tom Allen (D-ME) (H.R. 664) and
Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) (S. 731). This bill seeks to end price
discrimination against Medicare consumers by making sure that they get the
same price as the drug companies' favored customers (such as the big HMOs
and
the Veterans Administration). For a list of co-sponsors, go to
http://www.house.gov/allen/pd_summary.html . There at the top, you can click
on either the House bill number or the Senate bill number, and it will take
you to a description of the bill where, down the page, it will offer the
list
the co-sponsors.
It's difficult to evaluate the chances for passing a prescription drug bill
in this session of Congress. The Republican leadership understands the power
of the issue, but is promoting a drug benefit that covers only low-income
Medicare consumers and is not an essential piece of the Medicare program. We
need to keep pushing for a universal prescription drug benefit that is a
permanent part of the Medicare program and that helps to make drug prices
affordable.
If we can be of assistance to you in planning an event, or in putting you in
touch with other interested organizations in your area, please contact Bill
England or Jeff Kirsch in the field department of Families USA at
[log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask], or at (202) 628-3030.
To Your Health!
Jeff Kirsch, Field Director
Families USA - The Voice for Health Care Consumers
1334 G St., NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-628-3030 Fax: 202-347-2417
[log in to unmask]
www.familiesusa.org
"Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking
and inhumane." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
--
Fred Fay
Chair, Justice For All
[log in to unmask]
http://www.jfanow.org
Register to Vote Online at http://www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm
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