PI Action alerts & updates ... 2007

PI ACTION ALERT:
Support Improvements to Medicare Part D,
Medicaid and Children's Health with One Phone Call

July 27, 2007

The Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act protects and expands children's health through improvements to the Children's Health Insurance Program. It also will help people with HIV/AIDS by improving the Medicare drug benefit and providing some new Medicaid protections and expansions. This important bill is scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives very soon.

This is your chance to support an excellent health care initiative as it makes it's way through Congress.

How you can help:
Call your U.S. Representative right away and tell whoever answers the phone:

"My name is _________ and I live in (your city). I urge Representative ____________ to support the Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act. This legislation would provide many needed protections and expand important health care programs for the most vulnerable Americans, including children, people with disabilities and seniors."

You can call your Representative toll-free at 1-800-614-2803. You will get the Capitol switchboard. Ask to be connected to your Representative's office.

Background:

Representatives John Dingell (D-MI), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), and Pete Stark (D-CA) recently introduced the Children's Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act . This legislation commits $50 billion to reauthorize and improve the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to protect the healthcare coverage of the six million children it covers today, and to assure coverage for as many other eligible, uninsured, children as possible.

It also includes provisions that are very important to people living with HIV/AIDS throughout the country including:

• Would allow AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) and Indian Health Service payments to count toward an individual's cost sharing in Medicare Part D (the new prescription drug benefit).
• Would make it law that all Medicare Part D plans must cover all (or substantially all) of six classes of drugs, including anti-retrovirals, anti-psychotics and anti-depressants.
• Would create cost-sharing protections for Medicare low-income subsidy-eligible individuals.
• Would permit mid-year changes in Medicare Part D plans if the formulary changes and the individual is negatively impacted.
• Would allow benzodiazepines to be covered under the Medicare prescription drug program.
• Would reduce Medicare's discriminatory 50% co-payment on mental health outpatient services.