Please join us for a rally in support of health care reform and in opposition to Attorney General Tom Corbett’s lawsuit against the legislation that recently passed the US Congress.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
12:00 Noon
Thomas Paine Plaza (in front of the Municipal Services Building)
Arch Street between Broad and 15th Street
We will be joined, among others, by Congressmen Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady, Mayor Michael Nutter, and State Representative Dwight Evans.
You might wonder why we are rallying again for health care reform so soon after the legislation passed.
It used to be that when the US Congress passed legislation, we went on to other matters while waiting to see how it was implemented. Then, after we had some idea how the new programs worked, political leaders and activists would start devote energy to improving, changing or repealing it.
The opposition to health care reform, however, is not waiting. They are determined to stand against the idea that health care is now a right not a privilege in America. They will not accept a democratically elected government taking action to address the health care problem, the most serious long term moral and economic difficulty that we have faced in this country for years.
And they know that once people begin to receive the benefits of reform, it will never be repealed, only expanded.
So opponents of health care reform won’t stop. They have recruited Republican Attorney Generals, like our Tom Corbett, to file a frivolous suit against the legislation. And they want to make health care reform the central issue the 2010 election.
My response is the same as President Obama’s: bring it on. Let’s have that debate. I have no doubt that when Americans hear about all the immediate benefits of reform and how health care reform will create 200,000 jobs in Pennsylvania over the next ten years, more and more of them will be grateful for the legislation we just enacted.
But, to make sure that our fellow American do hear about the benefits of the legislation for which we fought so hard, we are going have to keep working now, and in the next eight months, to stand up for health care reform and the political leaders supported.
To begin with, please join us on Tuesday!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
12:00 Noon
Thomas Paine Plaza (in front of the Municipal Services Building)
Arch Street between Broad and 15th Street
Thanks
Marc
PS. Here is a list of the benefits that health care reform will bring us this year. The legislation:
- Stops some of the worst insurance company abuses: Insurance companies can no longer cancel your insurance coverage retroactively when you get sick or put a lifetime on your benefits
- Insures young adults under 26 who will be allowed to stay covered on their parents’ insurance.
- Reduces prescription drug costs for seniors. Seniors whose spending falls into Medicare’s prescription drug donut hole will have $250 of immediate help and the entire coverage gap will be eliminated over time.
- Encourages preventive care: new policies will have no co-pays for preventive care
- Saves money for small businesses. Small businesses with 25 or fewer employees making an average of $50,000 or less will receive a tax benefit of up to 35% of premiums if they offer coverage to workers.
- Protects children with pre-existing conditions: Insurance companies will not be allowed to deny health insurance to children with pre-existing conditions
- Provides insurance to Adults with pre-existing conditions who will have access to new subsidized high-risk insurance pools