URGENT: Stop S. 1955; devastating for chronic illness sufferers.

[blondeatlast]

Since I'm IDD, I took this info fromthe American Diabetes Association (all emphasis mine). You may find information from other advocacy groups as well, but this gives the gist of the devastating effects of this bill:

Bill, S.1955, would allow health insurers to circumvent existing laws in 46 states that guarantee coverage for diabetes medications, supplies and training

Alexandria, VA (March 7, 2006) The American Diabetes Association (ADA) today expressed its strong opposition to proposed federal legislation that would enable health insurers to bypass existing state health insurance regulations. In doing so, the "Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act" (S. 1955) would result in the loss of critical health coverage guarantees for millions of people with diabetes. Forty-six states and the District of Columbia require insurers to provide coverage for diabetes supplies, medication, equipment and education, but S. 1955 would undermine those basic protections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, chaired by bill sponsor Senator Michael Enzi, will mark up the bill Wednesday morning. At the markup, Senator Jeff Bingaman will offer an amendment to protect the diabetes coverage benefit in the states where it is maintained in state law.

"These protections were enacted over the past decade with the bipartisan support of legislatures, governors, and state insurance commissioners," L. Hunter Limbaugh (no relation to that one, trust me! BAL), the ADA's Chair for Advocacy, today wrote Sen. Enzi. "It has been the Association's experience that without these protections, state-regulated insurers often do not provide adequate diabetes coverage. Indeed, in the four current states without mandated diabetes coverage, insurers often do not provide these life-saving diabetes provisions."

There is a very real possibility that for diabetics, essential supplies like testing equipment, even syringes and insulin pump maintenance equipment could be exempted from coverage under this bill.

Call, fax, or e-mail your Senators ASAP. Here's more info on this bill from GD/P:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2529552

[flamingyouth]

1. Whoa! Thanks for posting that here

Somehow I missed that "upstairs."

I think I suffer from a case of Outrage Overload at times and get burned out from the news. Then I see something like this and get pissed off all over again. I'm definitely contacting my senators about this.

What a load of horseshit.

[blondeatlast]

2. Kickety-kick until it's voted on. Will keep you posted. nt

[OhioChick]

3. Kick

This is serious, folks. AARP, The American Diabetes Association and The American Cancer Society took out an ad in The Cleveland Plain Dealer this Sunday.

It states:

"Helping small business offer quality health insurance is a good idea. But proposed U.S. Senate bill S. 1955 isn't the answer. It will permanently alter how health insurance is offered in the marketplace, undermining state regulations and consumer protections that require insurance companies to cover such vital benefits as cancer screening, mental health services, diabetes supplies and education, and well-child care. S. 1955 also creates disincentives for employers to hire older workers and people with chronic health conditions, which is not only wrong, it's discriminatory."

Also states to call Sen. DeWine tomorrow at 1-800-944-6723 and urge him to vote NO on S. 1955.

Half the space on the ad is a picture of a help wanted ad that reads:

Help Wanted:

Only Young & Healthy Need Apply

[blondeatlast]

4. Sounds like a great ad--any possibility you could provide a link?

No worries if you can't, but it sounds GREAT.

Fortunately, Big Pharma is on our side in this one, but even they don't have the resources of Mega Insurance.

[OhioChick]

5. It was a full-page ad

taken out in The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Sorry, no link.

However, I did find this on AARP:

http://www.aarp.org/issues/advocacy/older_workers_healthcare_in_jeopardy.html

You might try looking over the other organization's websites that are against S1955 (as listed in the ad above) and find more information on those.