ACTION ALERT - Tell Your Senator to Pass the Health Care Reform Reconciliation Bill!

The U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping health care reform over the weekend but there is still one last step needed to ensure reform assists as many people living with HIV/AIDS as possible: we need the Senate to pass the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (H.R. 4872).

The reconciliation bill addresses budgetary fixes in health care reform, and requires every provision of the health care reform bill to have a budgetary impact. Otherwise, those provisions could be removed from the bill.

We need to make sure the Senate passes the reconciliation bill. We need to make sure health care reform includes provisions that significantly improve access to care for people living with HIV/AIDS, including: closing the “donut hole” in the Medicare prescription drug benefit program (a nearly $3500 per-person gap in drug coverage that the AIDS Drug Assistance Program must now cover); including AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) payments as True Out of Pocket (TrOOP) costs for Part D beneficiaries; and expanding Medicaid eligibility to persons with income under 133% of the federal poverty level, including those living with HIV/AIDS.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Call toll-free to voice your support: 1.800.828.0498. When you reach the Capitol Switchboard, ask to be connected to your Senator. If you have trouble getting through with the toll-free number, you can use the regular switchboard number: 1.202.224.3121.

You can also look up your Senator to find a direct contact number at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Call your Senator and say, “My name is _____ and I’m a constituent from (city/state). I’m calling to ask you to vote to pass the health care reform reconciliation bill. I believe that reform is critical to the health of all people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. Access to affordable health care keeps those people living with HIV from progressing to AIDS and is essential for people who have full-blown AIDS. It keeps HIV-positive individuals in the workforce longer and extends the life span of many positive individuals.”

Please Take Action NOW!
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!