Health Care For America Now

Some folks may have not yet noticed the "Steps to Win" section at the top of our site. It's a section of the site managed by our legislative team, and has the best information on the process by which we'll pass health care reform this year, broken down into six easy-to-understand steps.

For the last few months, we've been in step two, where committees in Congress that have control over health care have been holding hearings and drafting legislation. Now, with legislation set to be introduced in the Finance Committee in the Senate and the tri-committees in the House, and with HELP already marking up a bill, we're firmly in the third step towards passing health reform: Committees passing bills.

Here's what's going to happen:

Because health reform legislation is so complicated, five different committees – three in the House and two in the Senate – are entitled to have some say in the legislation. Each House and Senate committee in charge of different parts of health care reform has been holding hearings and drafting legislation. Committees consider their first draft, usually called the Chairman’s mark, in a process called "mark-up." During these committee meetings, members propose changes to the Chairman’s mark (amendments) and then vote on final approval in their committee. The committees may consider hundreds on amendments in the process.

Once each committee completes its process, the two Senate committees will combine their bills and work out any differences to bring one bill to the Senate floor. The same process will be happening among the committees working in the House. The committees involved in health care reform have pledged to work together to minimize differences and make this process easier.

And, because we're a campaign after all, here's what you can do to help this process:

• Call your Senators in support of a public option - Call your Senators in support of a strong public health insurance option, not "co-ops" or other proposals that won’t do all the things a strong public option can.
• Ask your Senators about the public option - Ask your Senators where they stand on the public health insurance option and what kind of public option they stand for.
• Sign the petition for a public option - Senators Leahy, Durbin, and Schumer have created a petition you can sign in support of a public health insurance option.
• Call your Members of Congress - This is by far the most important thing you can do. Members take calls from constituents very seriously, much more seriously than faxes or emails. Please take a moment and call, even if your Members of Congress are already supporting our efforts.
• Spread the word about our campaign - When President Bill Clinton tried to pass health care reform back in 1993, he didn't have a grassroots army behind him to hold Congress' feet to the fire and fend off opponents. That critical mistake eventually doomed his efforts. This time will be different, but we need your help to recruit your friends and family. Please send a message to anyone you know who supports President Obama and his promises of health care reform and ask them to join our campaign.
• Volunteer in your state - Health Care for America Now has grassroots offices in 42 states and grassroots supporters in all 50. Get involved in the effort in your state and in your community to help us pressure Congress and win quality, affordable health care for all in 2009.

So, hooray for progress! Things are indeed moving. A little historical note: If we make it pass step three onto the full House and Senate considering a bill for a vote, we'll have officially made it farther in the process than President Clinton did in the '90s. That'll be a real milestone.

Now, all we have to do is pass a bill out of committee, pass a bill out of both Houses of Congress, get them to agree on a bill, and have the President sign it - all while preserving our principles for health reform. Not easy, but we'll get there.