Happy 4th of July!
Have a wonderful weekend celebrating the birth of this great nation. Some great stuff for your entertainment. Much love!
Budget cuts = cuts to women’s health care
Amy Rosenthal wrote an article about the unfortunate cuts many cities are making to their budgets that turn out to be cuts to women’s health care. One specific example she gives is cuts to the processing of rape kits in places like LA.
“These women are already rape victims. We should make sure they aren’t also victims of a poor justice system.”
Amen to that.
Health care reform news
An article about comparative effectiveness.
A column about the new plan put forward by the Senate Finance Committee.
The Republicans and moderate Democrats want less public option, liberal Democrats want more. Props to our own Senator Chuck Schumer for…not giving up? The Daily Kos does a good straight analysis of the recent additions to the Senate HELP bill (AKA the public plan) on their website here.
Report on Presidential town hall meeting
Yesterday the President hosted a town hall meeting where he answered questions from the audience, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube from citizens concerned about health care and health reform. Highlights included a hug from Obama to a woman named Debbie who is facing serious health problems and a situation where she cannot work and no longer has health coverage. Obama took the opportunity to use her as an example of exactly what shouldn’t be happening in these United States. The hug follows behind some of my personal picks:
And, everyone’s favorite:
Also, the President fielded a question from our very own ally Jason Rosenbaum from HCAN, who does a bunch of awesome blogging on their website. Hey Jason! Good job! There wasn’t all that much content in the town hall answers to questions, but it’s important for Obama to present to the nation that he is involved and interested in what is going on in Congress, and that he is committed to keeping this as an integral part of his administration. Read an article about the event from the New York Times here.
In other news:
The Senate Finance Committee may restrict women’s health care!
Yesterday rumors were flying and some folks are saying they’ve been confirmed. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC), in an effort to make health care into a bi-partisan effort, is considering a restriction on abortion funding with the passage of health care reform. This could mean not allowing a public health insurance plan to cover the cost of abortions for women. It is still unclear under what circumstances this provision would apply, but we want to make sure that you all are aware of what’s going on in the SFC!
This is potentially very dangerous, and poses a great risk for the health and lives of women all over this country. There is no excuse for excluding health benefits from health insurance plans based on politics and ideology. We don’t want politicians deciding what health care services we have and do not have. We need to look out for the women with the least access to resources and capital and ensure that their needs are represented.
Please contact your members of congress, encourage them to oppose this amendment or any language about restricting women’s access to reproductive health care services. We most strongly encourage women and men from states represented on the Senate Finance Committee to contact their representatives: Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Alaska, Oregon, New York, Michigan, Washington, Florida, New Jersey, Delaware, Iowa, Utah, Maine, Arizona, Kentucky, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, and Texas. Make your voice heard and make sure this possibility doesn’t become a reality.
Some good stuff:
Check out Our Bodies, Our Blog for a pretty great round-up of health care news from last week. Also, Ezra Klein makes some public plan analysis here.
Happenings on the Hill
It seems that the President is negotiating a fine line between being too involved in health reform and not involved enough. Yesterday he hosted five governors (Republicans and Democrats) who the administration considers possible allies in the fight for reform. By influencing senators and congresspeople through their governors, the President retains a kind of outsider position, which may be advantageous. Preventing a tax on employee benefits and ensuring the public plan option seem to be the two things most at risk.
It looks as if the Senate Finance Committee will be releasing their draft of the health reform bill right after the July 4th recess. The Senate HELP Committee and the Tri-Committee (Labor and Pensions, Ways and Means, and Health and Education) of the House will continue hearings and mark-up through next week. If things go smoothly, it is still possible there could be floor debates in September and a resulting bill on the desk of the President by mid-October. Things may not go so smoothly and we’ll have to wait a bit longer for revisions to be finished up. Stay tuned right here for the latest updates and what you can do to make sure your concerns are represented.
An article from the Washington Post about why reform is so important, and an overview by Time Magazine. Also, a word from Max Baucus (D-MT, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee). He’s saying what he’s said for…a long time. But are there answers? And finally, and organization pushing representatives in congress to actually read the bills. God forbid.
Cindy Pearson on Women’s E-News
Raising Women’s Voices partner Cindy Pearson was intereviewed by Molly Ginty for Women’s E-News. Cindy is the executive director of the National Women’s Health Network in Washington, DC and is a fabulous lady. The article, from Jun 26th is on their website here. Check it out!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha I love the internet.
This is amazing. I could watch this for hours, probably.
Thanks to Sam, a friend of health care reform advocates all over the world!
