Don't miss the final public hearing of the Health Care Justice Act!
Thursday, May 11th
4 - 6 p.m.
Chicago, IL
Click here for more information.
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May 2006 IlliNOISY News
Watch for each month's edition
in your inbox on the first Tuesday of the month.
Advocacy in
Action: Telling Your Story...
Catherine Prendergast was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of this year. With the
assistance of a Y-ME Hotline Counselor, Catherine was able to interpret her pathology report and begin treating her disease. She then found
herself fighting with her health insurance company about what her policy would and wouldn't cover. Despite her on-going personal health
challenges, Catherine wasted no time getting involved in breast cancer advocacy and attended the Health Care Justice Act hearing in McHenry in April
with the intention to listen. However, she felt the testimony she heard didn't tell her story - the story of those who are insured, employed,
educated and yet about to join the ranks of the "health care impoverished" - and she decided to testify. By telling her health care
story, Catherine helped to shape and form health care policy in Illinois by informing the work of the Adequate Health Care Task Force
assigned to implement the Health Care Justice Act.
The Health Care Justice Act passed the Illinois General Assembly in 2004 and creates a
process to achieve affordable and accessible health care in Illinois. It instructs the General Assembly to enact a health care access plan by
December 31, 2006 and to implement it by July 1, 2007.
Protect Coverage
for Mammograms!
S. 1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act, introduced by Senator Enzi (R-WY), is similar to the Association Health Plan (AHP)
legislation that passed the House last year. If enacted, this legislation would undermine important patient protections (including coverage
of mammography screening) and hamper our efforts to prevent, detect and treat cancer. State laws that ensure cancer screenings
protections will be threatened. We can't let this happen.
Though the bill’s alleged purpose is to make insurance affordable for small businesses,
its reach is far greater than that: States will no longer be able to mandate coverage of benefits, services, or categories of providers for
individuals, small groups, or large groups. Premium rating protections, enacted by states to make small group insurance more affordable to older and
sicker workers, will be set aside. Insurers will be allowed to sue states that do not comply. The bill sets a ceiling on, but no floor under, what
states can do to protect insurance consumers.
Take action by contacting your elected officials today!
Read more about S.
1955.
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American Airlines is helping eight IlliNOISY Advocates to attend the 2006 NBCC Advocacy Conference in Washington, DC.
Thank you American Airlines!
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National Health Policy
News
39 State AGs Say They Oppose Enzi Association Health Plan Bill
Thirty-nine state attorneys general sent a letter to the Senate expressing their opposition to a bill proposed by Senate Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions Committee Chair Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) that would allow small businesses to form association health plans under certain conditions. Read
more.
Sen. Grassley Calls for Action on Legislation to Force Post-Market Drug
Reviews
Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) recently urged lawmakers to consider legislation that would address FDA's postmarket
regulation of approved drugs. Read more.
NIH Budget Expected To Drop 3.8% in 2007
The NIH budget likely will decrease by 3.8% in fiscal year 2007 after an adjustment for inflation, according to an editorial published in the New
England Journal of Medicine. Read more.
Legislation Recently
Introduced
S. 2510 - Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) - (04/05/06) - A bill to establish a
national health program administered by the Office of Personnel Management to offer health benefits plans to individuals who are not federal
employees.
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