Catholic bishops are attacking the President for requiring health care plans offered by employers affiliated with religious groups such as colleges and hospitals to cover contraceptives like non-religious employers. Houses of worship are exempt from the rule and don’t have to cover contraceptives.
 
New polls released today show that U.S. Catholics don’t agree with their own church on this question. According to the Public Religion Policy Institute:
 

Roughly 6-in-10 Catholics (58%) believe that employers should be required to provide their employees with health care plans that cover contraception.

The bishops are critical of the requirement and asked for an exemption for Catholic institutions such as hospitals and educational institutions, regardless of the employee’s religion. Catholics who participated in the poll said they favored the position of the Health and Human ServicesDepartment:

A majority of Catholics (52%) say that religiously affiliated colleges and hospitals should have to provide coverage that includes contraception.

 
A separate poll by Public Policy Polling found that 56% voters support the Obama Administration in requiring religious employers other than houses of worship to cover birth control just like other health plans. The poll suggests that Mitt Romney’s strong criticism of the requirement and his promise to allow religious groups to opt out of it isn’t likely to help him much in a head-to-head contest with the President.

By Ethan Rome - Executive Director, Health Care for America Now

Florida Gov. Rick Scott wants to cheat the families of his state out of $140 million in health insurance rebates. If Scott gets his way, it could harm consumers across the country.

Ripping off consumers and the health care system isn't new to Florida Gov. Rick Scott. He got rich leading a hospital company that paid a record $1.7 billion in criminal fines and civil penalties to the Justice Department for systematically defrauding federal health care programs. Scott went on to lead a high-profile campaign against health reform backed by the infamous right-wing billionaire Koch Brothers, and Scott used that campaign as a springboard to the governorship.

Now Scott wants his state to be exempted from federal rules that would require insurance companies to send $140 million in premium rebates to families over the next three years. Enter the big winners, the health insurance companies that will get the money instead of Florida's hard-working families.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) enacted last year, health insurers that fail to spend at least 80% of your premiums on actual health services must give the difference back to consumers. This is one of the best and possibly least known provisions in health care reform. It requires insurance companies to become more efficient and keep less money for profits and CEO salaries. It says that people paying premiums should get more value for their money.

The goal of the rule isn't to force companies to pay consumer rebates, it's to hold insurance companies accountable and get them to change their behavior. But if they don't, they're supposed to pay, and they shouldn't get off the hook just because they like their profits more than the new law. They should not be rewarded for failing to meet a basic standard because they can get politicians like Scott to take their side.

And let's not forget the most important thing: While insurance companies are making record profits, struggling families are desperate for relief. The people of Florida need the $140 million they're owed. But consumers won't get their money if Rick Scott gets his way. The Republican governor — who's been doing everything in his power to thwart implementation of the ACA — has been shamelessly trying to manipulate the law to pad the pockets of a private health insurance industry that will collect $934 billion in premiums this year.

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty is doing Scott's dirty work. McCarty is a staunch opponent of the ACA who recently led an unsuccessful effort to gut the 80% rule at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. For his efforts, the National Association of Health Underwriters honored McCarty with the "Spirit of Independence Award." So the insurance industry can count on the insurance commissioner.

McCarty recently asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to give Florida's insurance companies special treatment. In order to get an exemption to the 80% rule, a state is supposed to meet some basic criteria, principally proving that its insurance market would be destabilized by the rule.

Florida doesn't meet any of the criteria, and its application to HHS fails to provide any supporting evidence. As Health Care for America Now (HCAN) detailed in a letter to HHS, the state offered no evidence that insurers would leave the state market, that consumers would have to do without the services of agents and brokers, or that anyone would go without coverage due to the rule. That's why HCAN asked HHS to reject Florida's request. Other national groups and 19 Florida health care and consumer organizations have done the same.

HCAN also asked HHS to hold a public hearing. Such a hearing would be the first of its kind — and the first opportunity for Florida's consumers to have any input on their state government's attempt to rob them of $140 million. It would also force the insurance companies seeking this special treatment to publicly face the consumers who will lose the millions of dollars they're entitled to under the ACA.

The Patient Bill of Rights in the ACA is about stopping insurance company abuses, and the 80% rule is an important part of it.

If Florida can get an unjustified exemption to this rule, it would send the message that anything goes, that the rule doesn't really matter and that insurance companies and the Republican politicians they own are in charge. We're counting on HHS and the Obama Administration to do the right thing and deny Florida's bogus request.

Check out today's article from Kaiser Health News - "Federal Officials Try Again to Bolster Plans For People With Medical Conditions".  Thousands of consumers with pre-existing conditions are seeing dramatically lower health care costs thanks to the Affordable Care Act.

Federal Officials Try Again to Bolster Plans For People With Medical Conditions

By Michelle Andrews

Jul 05, 2011

How low can they go? Experts agreed that pricey premiums for the new “pre-existing condition insurance plans” created under the health care overhaul were partly to blame for anemic enrollment in the plans, which reached just 21,454 after several months, compared with potentially hundreds of thousands that had been projected.

Starting July 1, the Obama administration reduced premiums by up to 40 percent in 17 states and the District of Columbia where it runs the new high-risk programs and encouraged other states to follow suit. The reductions were possible because federal officials now have state-specific data that allowed them to more accurately peg the premiums to the rates for individual plans in the state, as the law requires, says Steven Larsen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Another provision of the health reform law could help make the plans—which are aimed at people with medical conditions who can’t get coverage on the private individual market—even more affordable.

Under the law, starting in 2012 insurers must spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they collect on medical claims, as opposed to administration or profit, or pay rebates to consumers for the excess amount collected.

Some insurers are already reducing premiums to meet the new “medical loss ratio” requirements. (Medical claims paid are considered losses in insurance jargon.) If tough economic times continue and people cut back on medical care, experts say other insurers may follow suit. “Plans are getting nervous about how big the rebates they’re going to have to pay are,” says Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University who’s a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

If insurers lower premiums in the individual market to meet the law’s new MLR requirements, that could be good news for the PCIP programs, whose rates are supposed to be no higher than standard rates in a state’s individual market.

Talk about further reductions can wait for another day. “It’s possible,” that the medical loss ratio requirements might further depress premiums in the PCIPs, says Larsen. However, “I wouldn’t care to speculate about that.”

Read more about high-risk insurance plans.

By, Ethan Rome - Executive Director, Health Care for America Now

The Republican budget proposal released by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin would give millionaires and political campaign contributors huge tax breaks while punishing seniors and working families. Ryan's extremist plan would decimate Medicare and Medicaid and terminate the Affordable Care Act, undermining the economic security of America's struggling middle class.

The Republican plan isn't based on the principle of shared sacrifice. There's no fairness. The idea that we solve big problems in this country by working together and sharing the burden can't be found. The super-rich and big corporations aren't asked to pitch in. Instead the Republicans manipulate the tax code so the rich get even richer. This budget blueprint changes the rules and reshapes this country in a breathtakingly dangerous way.

The Republican budget attacks every single one of us. Health care programs that everyone in this country depends on would be eviscerated. We'll all be covered by Medicare. Many of us have friends and relatives who receive Medicaid benefits, including millions in nursing homes. And the new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, has already made a huge difference in the lives of millions in its first year - and ultimately will directly touch 200 million of us.

The GOP's budget breaks the fundamental promise of this country: That if you work hard and play by the rules, you can take care of your family and retire with dignity and peace of mind.

How do the Republicans intend to reduce the deficit? They want seniors and hard-working families to pay more for health care and get less coverage.

The Republicans want to:

• End Medicare as we know it: The Republican budget eliminates traditional Medicare. It trades seniors' guaranteed health care benefits for vouchers that go directly to private insurance companies, risking their health and financial security when care is denied or premiums are raised. Under Ryan's plan, the value of the vouchers would rise more slowly than private premiums, forcing seniors to make up the difference and fall farther behind with each passing year. Those who can't afford it will be out of luck. The enrollment age would rise from 65 to 67.
• Give mammoth tax cuts to millionaires and big corporations. At a time when income disparities are as big as ever, the Republicans would widen the gap. This year U.S. corporations have taken the biggest profits in the nation's history and corporate taxes are at the lowest levels in generations (some corporations don't pay taxes at all!). But the Republicans want to cut another $1.5 trillion from the tax obligations of the wealthiest individuals and companies. This is a bonanza for corporate lobbyists and campaign contributors.
• Rip apart America's safety net. The Republicans want to convert Medicaid into state block grants that will shift costs to states, lower payments to hospitals and doctors, cost three million jobs, and impoverish seniors and their families by shifting to them the burden of paying for nursing homes and other essential long-term care services.
• Put insurance companies back in charge of our care. The plan would allow insurance companies to jack up our rates and deny our care whenever they want. The Republicans would do away with cost savings and consumer protections under the Affordable Care Act, like the ban on denying care to people with pre-existing conditions, the big savings on drug costs for seniors and new caps on how much of each premium dollar goes to overhead and profits. Repealing the ACA would keep 32 million uninsured people from gaining quality, affordable health coverage.
• Help Wall Street-run health insurance companies make record-breaking profits and pay their CEOs outrageous sums to deny people the care they paid for and need. The Ryan plan would hand over nearly 65 million seniors to the private health insurance industry. Private insurers selling Medicare Advantage plans already cost 11 percent more than the conventional Medicare program, the nation's most efficient health plan. There's no reason to think they could perform any more efficiently with 100 percent of Medicare beneficiaries.

The Ryan plan is an assault on the middle class that shifts billions of dollars to the big corporations and richest Americans. It robs future generations of the opportunity to do better than their parents and to share in the prosperity of a great nation. While the corporate lobbyists and campaign donors reap the benefits, the Republican plan makes the American Dream unachievable for the vast majority of people in this country.

Join the fight for these programs today. Click here to call your Member of Congress and tell them to vote NO on the Republican's extremist budget.

By Ethan Rome - Executive Director, Health Care for America Now

On Wednesday the Republicans on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee are holding a "public" hearing about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at the state capitol in Harrisburg, Penn. Except they're not there to listen to the public and people like Pennsylvania's Stacie Ritter, whose family had good insurance and still had to file for bankruptcy because of massive medical bills.

Stacie and her husband Ben had to pay huge fees for the treatments their twin little girls, Hannah and Madeline, needed when they were diagnosed with leukemia. At the same time, Ben had to take time from work to help care for the twins and their other children. It was too much and they went bankrupt. Thankfully Hannah and Madeline are doing well today.

Unfortunately, the Republicans don't care about people like the Ritters. They want to repeal the new law that would help prevent other families from going through the same thing that happened to Stacie's family. They even want to repeal one of the provisions Stacie is most grateful for - the one that requires insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. That provision means Madeline and Hannah will always be able to get affordable health insurance despite their medical history.

The Republicans are in Pennsylvania on the first anniversary of this historic law to play politics and to grandstand. They've invited Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and other partisan opponents of the law to testify. Not invited: ordinary members of the public. So it's not really a public hearing - it's a show trial, another act of political theater in the Republicans' relentless effort to repeal and undermine the new law. Just down the hall, Stacie and others are holding a reality-based hearing in the Capitol Rotunda to make sure the stories of average Pennsylvanians are heard, especially those already benefiting from the law's many cost savings and consumer protections.

Stacie Ritter's story is all too familiar. People finding coverage or claims denied. People being forced to pay more because of a pre-existing medical condition or being denied coverage outright. People getting stuck on hold for hours to get a simple issue resolved by phone. People running up against annual or lifetime coverage caps and unaffordable co-pays and deductibles that cause more than 900,000 medical bankruptcies a year. All the while, insurance company profits soar, and CEOs make millions. That's why Stacie joined Health Care for America now to fight for change.

The ACA is putting a stop to this madness. It ends the worst health insurance company abuses and protects our care. It provides cost savings, consumer protections and greater health care choices. It puts a check on out-of-control profits that fuel premium increases that are crushing families and small businesses.

The Republicans derisively call the ACA "Obamacare" and rail against the "government takeover of health care." They'd rather not tell the truth about what the law really does because that information does not help their case.

Here are the facts:

• Millions of seniors are receiving free preventive care, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, and relief from skyrocketing prescription drug prices, including $250 checks for people who reached the "donut hole" and a 50% discount on brand name drugs. The ACA has provided these savings while eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system.

• For small businesses, job-creating tax credits are available to help cover their employees. More small businesses are now providing coverage.
• Adult children can stay on their parents' health plans until they're 26, which provides much needed access to care and peace of mind (especially for the parents) in this tough economy.
• The ACA ends unconscionable abuses like dropping you because you fall ill or because you made a mistake in your paperwork. It bans the odious practice of denying your care or charging you more for having a pre-existing condition. It ends annual and lifetime caps on coverage.

• For the first time ever, the insurance companies are being held accountable, capping how much they can charge, limiting excessive profits and putting the brakes on bloated compensation for CEOs. Guaranteeing a good deal instead of a raw deal with our health insurance - that's what the ACA does.

The ACA is providing life-changing benefits, cost-savings and protections that are making a huge difference in people's lives right now.

The ACA is about more than health care. It's also about economic security for families struggling to make ends meet. We can't preserve and expand the middle-class if people have to worry about health care. People have enough to worry about with high unemployment, rising gas and food prices and keeping up with mortgage payments.

Instead of creating jobs and growing the economy, the Republicans are re-fighting the battles of the past and trying to take us back to the days when insurance companies had a stranglehold on our health care.

People like Stacie Ritter are insisting that we move forward. "This is America," she says. "I knew we could do better with our heath care than we've done in the past and I'm glad we have this law. We won't go back. We've got to move forward."

NOTE: Health Care for America Now has a chart that highlights the features of the Affordable Care Act and shows what the Republican repeal plan would do. You can download a printable, high-resolution version with citations here.

Ethan Rome - Executive Director, Health Care for America Now

Gov. Scott Walker's attack on Wisconsin's middle class and his plan to take away the rights of public service workers is wrong. It's certainly wrong for the governor to work for corporate special interests like the infamous Koch brothers instead of the people of Wisconsin. And his threat Tuesday of "dire consequences" was disingenuous and irresponsible, especially since his draconian attack on the freedom of employees to have a voice at work has nothing to do with balancing the state's budget.

It's time for the governor to stop fighting with public employees, put aside his partisan agenda and help Wisconsin move forward. The governor should work with the unions and both political parties and remember that this is not about winning a fight - it's about getting things done.

In Indiana, for example, that's what Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has decided to do. Ideologically, Daniels and Walker are kindred spirits, and the Indiana governor is no friend of workers. But Daniels decided this is not the right time to declare war on workers. According to the Indianapolis Star, Daniels signaled Tuesday that "Republicans should drop the right-to-work bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures."

Wisconsin's governor has created an unnecessary impasse. Gov. Walker has driven 14 Democratic state senators into hiding because it's the only way they can force a pause in the legislative process. He is staring out his office window at unprecedented protests by thousands of Wisconsinites from all walks of life. Recent polls show the public is not on his side. Everyone understands that Gov. Walker's claims about the state budget are a pretext to take away peoples' rights and shrink Wisconsin's middle class. This is no way to lead a state. The governor should work across party lines to solve this problem so Wisconsin lawmakers can move on to other issues - including the budget for the coming fiscal year.

The governor could end this crisis if he's willing to work with the unions and both political parties. As we all know, this crisis is not about the money and never was. To the extent that Wisconsin has a budget deficit, it is a problem of the governor's own making, thanks to tax breaks he just gave to corporations. The workers have already agreed to Gov. Walker's requests for concessions on pension and health care. But the governor won't budge - he continues to put his ideological agenda ahead of the people of Wisconsin. That's just plain wrong and makes little sense as a practical matter.

The governor is needlessly alienating Wisconsin's workers. I understand why the governor attacked his own work force of public-service employees in his first six weeks in office. Taking away collective-bargaining rights from all workers is an important agenda item for the big corporations and the extremists in his own political party. But this plan has backfired. The middle-class families of his state are turning against the governor. Of course people are angry. Giving tax breaks to corporations and the super rich while taking away the rights, income and benefits of middle-class families isn't fair. No state can afford this kind of strife when budget crises make "shared sacrifice" the phrase of the day. Shared means shared.

Gov. Walker should move Wisconsin forward instead of pursuing his partisan political agenda. There's no room for political games in a fragile economy. There are tough problems to solve, and that can't happen when politicians are playing politics with people's lives. Politicians like Gov. Walker shouldn't be declaring war on the middle class to appease their corporate backers. They should not talk about making "tough" decisions to reduce the standard of living for working families at the same time they increase the wealth of billionaires like the Koch brothers.

A right-wing corporate cabal funded by the Kochs is applying growing pressure on Walker and all Republicans to attack unions. Tomorrow, the Koch-led front group Americans for Prosperity will begin a Wisconsin TV and radio ad campaign to promote this assault on workers.

Now we're seeing exactly the same attacks in states like Ohio. Until these governors and politicians ask the corporations and the very rich to pay their fair share, they have no business asking the rest of us for anything.

You can join the fight — www.wearewisconsin.org.

The battle of public employees for their rights in Wisconsin is about fairness, the preservation and expansion of the middle class and keeping the American Dream alive. In the face of a vicious Republican and corporate assault on the ability of workers to negotiate for a better life, Wisconsin's workers are fighting back. They're standing up for their right to collectively bargain and they're standing up for all of us.

The tenacity, courage and commitment of the protesters have been extraordinary. The community support the workers have received has been inspiring. The people of Wisconsin are making history by drawing a serious line in the sand against unbridled corporate power and Republican extremism.

Throughout our nation's history, workers and their unions have fought for better wages, benefits and scores of trailblazing workplace improvements. At the bargaining table, the ballot box, in the halls of Congress and wherever important policy decisions are made, unions have fought for greater opportunity and shared prosperity, for the real American dream (Rachel Maddow has a great segment about Wisconsin's labor history which you can watch here).

In the post World War II era, unionized jobs with good pay and decent health care and retirement benefits helped create and expand America's middle class. It was the promise of America: If you worked hard and played by the rules, you could get ahead. And your kids could do even better.

That promise — the American Dream — has been made possible by the strength of the American labor movement and the sacrifices of countless workers and their families.

Today, union membership is down, unemployment is up and the current generation of young people is the first in years to expect that they won't be as well off as their parents.

Enter Governor Scott Walker, Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner, Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan and the rest of the Republicans who want an America run by and for the big corporations. Their agenda is to downsize government to dangerous levels, dismantle the public programs that keep our families safe and make our communities strong, export our jobs overseas and do whatever it takes to increase corporate profits and concentrate the nation's wealth into fewer and fewer hands.

These politicians are owned and operated by a powerful cabal of corporations and billionaires like the infamous Koch Brothers, who fund many right-wing front groups such as FreedomWorks who sent people to Madison from across the country this weekend to stage counter-protests.

These politicians and organizations are part of a nationwide effort to take away collective bargaining. They're also trying to take away the important cost-saving benefits and consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act. They want to privatize Social Security and eliminate Medicare as we know it. The want a government that's small enough to starve the poor, shrink the middle class and eliminate small businesses and big enough to regulate who we can love and marry. They want a government that looks the other way when oil companies recklessly drill offshore and mining firms operate without regard for the health and safety of their workers. And they want a government with enough reach to tell a woman, her doctor and her family what to do about private health care decisions.

We have a different vision of the world. As Paul Wellstone would often say, "We all do better when we all do better." We believe that work should be rewarded and workers treated with dignity and respect. We believe in an America where there is opportunity for everyone to achieve their potential and have fulfilling lives, including a secure retirement. We also believe in a robust government that does things we can't do ourselves to improve our collective quality of life. We believe in pitching in and helping each other out. The Republicans and their corporate sponsors believe in every man for himself — the "you're on your own" theory of government and life.

We also believe in unions. As Bob Creamer says in his very fine piece on this struggle, the right to form a union is "an American value." He adds, "The right to form a union is critical to a democratic society because it is the only way to assure that employers do not treat their employees as commodities."

Ground Zero

It's these different visions that the battle in Wisconsin is about, beginning with worker's most basic rights. That's why teachers, correction officers, firefighters, nurses, administrative assistants, sanitation workers, social workers and so many others have banded together like never before. As AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee has said, Wisconsin is "ground zero" for the rights of public employees to unionize.

"If they succeed in Wisconsin, the birthplace of A.F.S.C.M.E., they will be emboldened to attack workers' rights in every state," McEntee says.

As we all know by now, the fight in Wisconsin is not about the money. To the extent that Wisconsin has a budget deficit, it is a problem of the Governor's own making, thanks to tax breaks he just gave to corporations. In fact, the workers have already indicated their willingness to negotiate over legitimate budget issues. Meanwhile, the Governor won't budge — he continues to choose his ideological agenda over the people of Wisconsin.

As the New York Times explains, "In a year when governors across the country are competing to show who's toughest, no matter what the consequences, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin stands out as the first to bring his State Capitol to a halt." The paper continues, "Like many governors, he wants to cut the benefits of state workers. But he also decided a budget crisis was a good time to advance an ideological goal dear to his fellow Republicans: eliminating most collective bargaining rights for public employees."

The Governor's plan is to take away nearly all of the collective bargaining rights of public employees, which would have no impact on the state budget. They would be barred from bargaining about anything except wages, and any pay increase they win would be limited by the consumer price index. Contracts would be limited to a year, and union dues could no longer be deducted from paychecks.

As President Obama noted, with considerable understatement on Wednesday, Walker's proposal "seems like an assault on unions."

At the center of the battle in Wisconsin are AFSCME, SEIU, the teachers (AFT and NEA), the AFL-CIO and many other labor and community organizations. These are the same groups — along with dozens of community, civil rights and faith groups and other unions such as the CWA, UAW and UFCW — that have also been key players in the coalition Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and its grassroots campaign to win (and now promote and defend) the new health care law. Without the power of labor — without the coalition of labor and community groups - we never would won the health care law (labor has also been central to many other victories over the last two years, beginning with the election of President Barack Obama).

"We Stood Up Straight" — The Memphis Strike

AFSCME is not unfamiliar with tough fights where the whole world was watching. In 1968, the sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, famously went on strike for better wages, benefits and working conditions and to get Mayor Loeb to recognize their union, AFSCME Local 1733. On April 3, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, the last formal remarks he would give before being assassinated the next day. He was in Memphis that night to support the strikers, who had walked off the job 51 days earlier.

Taylor Rogers was one of the strikers. During the nearly 10 years I worked at AFSCME, I had the honor of working with Mr. Rogers at events where he told the story of the strike. Just like Wisconsin's protesters, the Memphis workers went on strike for all of us.

One of Rogers' recollections of the strike is captured in a 2002 article in AFSCME's national magazine.

Rogers remembers the Memphis organizing events as if they happened yesterday. In 1964, Rogers and his co-workers figured that if they had to pick up other people's garbage, they were going to be respected for doing it. So they began to organize.

In those segregated times, African Americans in the South who stood up and demanded justice were ridiculed and harassed. Mayor Henry Loeb and the city council, with the backing of the white community, ignored the workers' union representation with AFSCME.

In February 1968, a crisis erupted: The accidental activation of a packer blade in the back of a garbage truck fatally crushed workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker. "That's when the men said, 'We're tired and we ain't going to take anymore,'" recalls Rogers. "If you bend your back, people can ride it. But if you stand up straight, people can't ride your back. And that's what we did.

"We stood up straight."

The workers in Wisconsin are standing up straight in a big way. Let us all stand with them. There are lots of web pages where you can go to get updates and help. Here's one: www.wearewisconsin.org.

by Ethan Rome

You’ve probably read by now that Judge Vinson did the expected: The judge gave Republican governors and attorneys general what they wanted, a decision that advances the GOP’s extremist agenda to return control of our health care to the insurance companies. This is judicial activism on steroids. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final say on the legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act, and it has corrected such lower-court mistakes when other major laws like Social Security, the minimum wage law and the Voting Rights Act were passed. Two other federal district judges have already upheld the new health care law.
Congress clearly has the authority to regulate the health insurance market, including protecting consumers from insurance industry abuses and reducing costs for families, seniors and businesses. The best way to protect consumers and control costs is to make sure everyone has health insurance, and that’s what the Affordable Care Act does.

With consumers already benefiting from the law, this litigation is really about the Republican Party protecting health insurance company profits at the expense of working families. The Republican politicians who marched in lockstep to bring this suit aren’t really interested in the new law’s individual-responsibility rule. This lawsuit is just another tactic in the Republican Party’s campaign to give our health care back to the insurance companies no matter what the cost.

The American people will not allow the courts or the Congress to bring us back to the time when insurance companies could exclude people because of pre-existing conditions, drop people for getting sick, or let benefit caps force people with serious diseases into bankruptcy.

Below are great reports from HCAN State Partners' anti-repeal events that took place January 18th and 19th leading up to the vote in congress.  HCAN's state partners never fail to impress.  These activities are generating a buzz and making headlines all over the place.  Thanks to everyone for organizing these events on short notice and despite inconvenience and delay.  Clips from events that took place in the following states are included below: Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

CONNECTICUT

Below is a photo from our event in Connecticut organized by HCAN Partner Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG)

FLORIDA

Orlando–Report from HCAN Partner Organize Now

Orlando event targeting Webster had nearly 30 people in attendance from Organize Now, AFSCME, FLARA, FL Chain, JWJ, OFA and more. Fox 35 and Channel 13 both attended the event in front of the local Chamber of Commerce. Speakers included 2 folks who had benefited from health care reform and organizational speakers. At the end of the press conference everyone started calling Webster's office. His office was clearly concerned about the immediate calls and asked folks why they were all calling at once-was it on tv or an email or radio. Calls continued throughout the day.

Tampa-Report from HCAN Partner FCAN

Event coverage here: The Ledger: Residents Ask Ross to Support Health Care

MAINE

Report from HCAN Partner Maine People's Alliance

We had a good turnout in the snow to rally in support of the Affordable Care Act. The “Rally to Save Healthcare” asked our new Governor and Attorney General to stop wasting our time and money by signing on to repeal our care, thanking  Representatives Pingree and Michaud for their support of the ACA, and asking our state legislature to work towards implementation that will cover the most Maine people possible.

Watch video here: Rally to Save health Care

Media Coverage so far:

Maine Health Reform Supporters Rally Against Repeal

Non-profits rally in favor of health care law

AP: Maine rally held to support nat'l health care law

MICHIGAN

Report from Michigan Citizen Action

Around 40 people prayed outside of Congressman Upton's office.  10 personal letters delivered to Ed Sackely, District Director.  Because of new security, letters and people met with Ed one-by-one.  Kalamazoo Gazette article in the link below.  Linda did WMUK interview from 7:33 - 7:40.

Watch video from the event here

Health-care reform supporters hold vigil outside U.S. Rep. Fred Upton's office on eve of House vote

MINNESOTA

Report from HCAN Partner Take Action Minnesota

Our MOC letter attached and we placed the following Op-Ed in the press today, by TakeAction board member. Thank you Liz Doyle

MinnPost- Republicans have it backwards on the jobs effect of health-care reform

NEVADA

Report from HCAN Partner PLAN

The Heckuva Deal Donut Hole bake sale went well. Several volunteers from PLAN, Americans United, and our coalition partners spoke to over 150 senior citizens at the Flamingo Senior Center in Joe Heck’s district (pic attached). Not one senior wanted to buy back their donut hole for $250 but we did give away 6 dozen donut holes along with handouts on ACA repeal targeted to seniors. We also logged 42 calls to Heck’s office made through the cell phones we brought to the event.

Additionally, we sent out action alerts statewide as did several of our coalition partners (Americans United, ProgressNow, and the SEIU) and will continue phone banking and mobilizations today.

The press was only radio phoned-in interview and mention on noon hour news (waiting for clips to become available), with a couple of outlets interested in doing a follow up story after the vote happens.

NORTH DAKOTA

Report from HCAN Partner NDPeople.org

State Capitol news conference challenging new Rep. Rick Berg on the repeal of ACA yesterday. Speakers did great! Media were the two TV stations (NBC and CBS) and North Dakota Public Radio. The reporter, from Forum Communications which has four daily papers and a bunch of TV stations, asked for the news release.

OHIO

Report from HCAN Partner Progress Ohio

Marianne Steger, from AFSCME Ohio Council 8 speaks to Steve Cheek, Staff Assistant, for Congressman Steve Stivers in the lobby of his district office.

Ohio Health Care Coalition Deliver Petitions To Ohio Congressional District Offices

ProgressOhio Community Blog:

By Denise Gastesi on January 19, 2011 9:49

Ohio Consumers Ask Congressmen Stivers To Side With Hard-Working Families, Not Big Insurance Companies

Tuesday, a delegation of leaders from various groups which are part of an Ohio Coalition of Health Care For America Now (HCAN), and constituents which led the national fight to pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA), delivered petitions to Congressman Stivers district office in Columbus to discuss his position on repealing the new law, which protects consumers from the worst insurance company abuses.

A Health Care Reform Repeal Bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would eliminate provisions of the new law that are already benefiting consumers in the 15th Congressional District, effectively taking away no-cost preventive care for 77,000 seniors in Medicare, and 65,500 young adults would lose their insurance coverage through their parents' health plans sometimes just after they finish school and as they are looking for a job.

With the Health Care Repeal bill expected to be voted on in Congress this week, simular events are being held in Ohio at other congressional district offices. Constituents delivered petitions to Speaker Boehner's office in West Chester Tuesday and groups are organizing constuents to meet at Fountain Square today to deliver petitions to Rep. Steve Chabot's Office in Cincinnati today.

Online petitions were also sent to Rep. Renacci's office in the 16th Congressional District as well as to Rep. Johnson in OH-8.

OCHC Statehouse Press Conference 1-19-2011

Some of the stories in the press conference below, came from the ProgressOhio e-mail that was sent out asking for health care stories.

OREGON

Report from HCAN Partner Oregon Action

We had a great action today in Medford, OR.  We had 40 folks at the Medford Library for a press/ community education rally.  Speaker included leaders from SEIU, Rev Bill McDonald from the faith community and Oregon Action and 3 stories from people effected by repeal.  There were 3 tv stations ( KOBI, KTVL and KDRV).  Additionally we had a story in the Mail Tribune announcing the event yesterday Jan 18.  There we two pre stories on KOBI which included a wonderful 5 minute interview with Michelle Glass, young Oregon Action leader. Everyone signed a letter to Rep Greg Walden and we announced our next HCAN meeting for Feb 22.

We had a lot of spirit and willingness to continue to be an organized force for health care progress.

PENNSYLVANIA

From HCAN partners PUP, Action United and Penn Action

Coverage from Tuesday's PA Events:

Post Gazette: Vote expected today on health care repeal

The Tribune-Democrat: Critz, Shuster split on health care

Public News Service: PA Mom Testifies about Healthcare Reform in D.C. Today

Lebanon Event

Here is the report from the event in Lebanon. We had about 20 people attend. We had Jake Long regional co director from the Harrisburg Labor Council Speak, Rev Dan Donomoyer and Bobbie Warshaw a Medicaid recipient talked about the benefits she received. There was also TV there and we are still looking for the link.

Lebanon Daily News - Ralliers: No to health care repeal

Scranton, PA Event

Lackawanna County Courthouse, Scranton PA

In addition to these events, Penn Action recruited Stacie Ritter, a woman with twins who have a pre-existing condition, to come to DC and be part of Speaker Pelosi's hearing to highlight people impacted by ACA repeal.  Stacie got great coverage all over the country including the story below.

Public News Service-PA

January 18, 2011

PA Mom Testifies about Healthcare Reform in D.C. Today

LANCASTER, Penn. - A Pennsylvania woman whose family was driven to bankruptcy after her twin four-year-old daughters were diagnosed with leukemia, is testifying on Capitol Hill today (Tuesday). Staci Ritter says thw girls' medical treatment has been very costly, and the bills piled up when an insurance company refused to pay for some of it.

As the U.S. House of Representatives gears up to vote on whether to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, Ritter's message to lawmakers is that needs to remain intact – to protect families like hers, who are dealing with catastrophic illnesses.

"I'm afraid that if they repeal the mandate, that will enable insurers to be able to deny children – like mine, who have pre-existing conditions – health care."

Ritter says the family's situation became more serious after her husband's company signed on with a new insurance carrier, and problems emerged with their daughters' coverage.

"My children are expensive. Anybody with a pre-existing condition is a liability, they'll openly admit it – so, what do we do to protect these people?"

Ritter says she's fearful of a repeal of health care reform, not just because of the impact it could have on her daughters today.

"Each time they pick away at it, they take away something that's protecting my children and their future; protecting them from discrimination, protecting them from being able to afford insurance to begin with."

She will testify before the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, part of the House Democratic Caucus. Her story turns out better than some, but Ritter says that's only because she went after the insurance company publicly and was able to come to a settlement. Recently, several lawmakers who favor repealing the Affordable Care Act, including new House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), released a report entitled "ObamaCare: Budget Busting, Job-Killing Health Care Law."

TENNESSEE

Report Back from Tennessee Citizen Action

State Capitol Rally To Fight Repeal Of Health Care Reform (WTVF News channel 5)

Middle Tenn. voices heard on health care repeal (WKRN News 2)

Tennessee Report: TNCA Urges Abandonment of Federal Health Care Law Repeal & Resistance Efforts

Tennessee Report: Reform v. Repeal; Mary & Co v. Mae & Co

Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tennessee health care reform backers cite benefits - Urge lawmakers to leave federal plan alone

WASHINGTON

Report from WA MSA

Coverage of Main Street Alliance members in the Vancouver Columbian yesterday.

Health care debate regains center stage - Herrera Beutler supports GOP repeal push

By Howard Buck Columbian Staff Reporter

Originally published January 18, 2011 at 4:23 p.m., updated January 18, 2011 at 7:25 p.m.

Photo by Steven Lane

WEST VIRGINIA

Report from West Virginia Citizen Action Group

WVCAG and partners held a 2PM press conference at the state capitol ahead of the vote to repeal ACA. Press covering the event were: TV 13 (CBS); WV News Service (radio); Charleston Gazette & Daily Mail (print)

Speakers were:

Gary Zuckett, WV Citizen Action Group
Perry Bryant, WV for Affordable Health Care
WV Senator Dr. Ron Stollings, Chair HHR Committee
WV Senator Dr. Dan Foster, member HHR Committee
Renate Pore, WV Center On Budget & Policy

WISCONSIN

Report from HCAN Partner Citizen Action of Wisconsin

Press from "No Repeal" action at Rep. Paul Ryan's office, 1/18:

WDJT TV 58 (CBS) Milwaukee (January 18, 2011) Wisconsin Joins Health Care Reform Fight

WISN TV 12 (ABC) Milwaukee (January 18, 2011) Interview with Brian Rothgery on repeal action at Paul Ryan's office (no link available)

WTMJ TV 4 (NBC) Milwaukee (January 18, 2011) Health Care Rally Outside Rep. Ryan's Office

Wisconsin Radio Network (January 18,  2011) Rallying against repeal

WRJN Radio 1400 AM Racine (January 18, 2011) 4:05 PM news break (podcast)

Racine Journal-Times (January 18, 2011) Protest outside Paul Ryan's office

Photos from Racine Journal Times picked up by AP:

Atlanta Journal Constitution (January 18, 2011) Congress tones down the rhetoric after shootings

Deseret News (Salt Lake City) (January 18, 2011) Congress tones down the rhetoric after shootings

The Republic (Columbus, IN) (January 18, 2011) Congress tones down the rhetoric after shootings

Christian Science Monitor (January 18,  2011) Health-care reform: How Democrats plan to crash House GOP's repeal party

Arizona Daily Star (January 18, 2011) Bid to repeal health law goes on, but with civil tone

News Times (Danbury, CT) (January 18, 2011)

MySanAntonio.com (January 18, 2011) Congress tones down the rhetoric after shootings

WASHINGTON, DC

Rally & Visibility Outside the Capitol yesterday.

Stacie Ritter's story was told in about 60 television markets across the country yesterday thanks mostly to NBC affiliates that picked up a Washington report on the event.

Stacie and her daughters are shown above testifying that repeal would mean her daughters would be at risk of losing their health coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Several stations ran the story more than once.