As the next step on the path towards national health reform, the full U.S. House of Representatives will soon debate and vote on H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. The final vote could occur as early as Friday! So we are down to the wire. Yet some of our reps may still be on the fence!

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW! Every House Rep needs to hear from their constituents in the next 24 hours. They need to know that they will have local support when they cast a vote in favor of the bill.

Contact your Representative today. Use the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 or click here to find your representative.

The message is simple:

“Please vote in favor of H.R. 3962. We have an historic opportunity to ensure health care for millions of Americans. As a constituent, I will support you when you cast this important vote.”

(Note that three Florida reps are especially important because we know they are on the fence:  Allan Boyd, Suzanne Kosmas and Ron Klein.)

BENEFITS OF THE HOUSE HEALTH CARE REFORM BILL:

H.R. 3962 is the most effective and fiscally responsible version of health care reform legislation we have seen so far, however. The bill would do all of the following and more:

• Create a new Health Insurance Exchange allowing one-stop comparison shopping for real coverage that is affordable to low- and moderate-income families.
• End discrimination for pre-existing medical conditions.  
•  Prevent insurance companies from dropping your coverage if you become sick.
• Eliminate co-pays for preventive care. 
• Expand Medicaid coverage to individuals and families below 150% of the poverty level ($27,500 for a family of 3).
•  Do all of the above responsibly, even reducing the federal deficit in the process.

Even though the Exchange and some of the new protections won`t be in place for a few years, a number of pieces would go into effect in 2010.  A few of those include:

•  Creating a temporary insurance program for individuals who haven’t been able to get coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
• Taking a first step towards closing the Medicare Part D “donut hole”, reducing it by $500 and offering a 50% discount on brand-name drugs.
•   Preventing health insurance companies placing lifetime caps on coverage.  
• Ending “rescissions”, where an insurer cancels a patient's policy just because they file a claim for benefits.