[OccupyCU] Fwd: [cchcc-l] The Supreme Court Upheld Health Reform, NOW It's Time for Quinn to Act!

Thu Jul 5 14:00:50 UTC 2012

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Champaign County Health Care Consumers" <cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org> 
To: cchcc-l at lists.shout.net 
Sent: Thursday, July 5, 2012 8:52:08 AM 
Subject: [cchcc-l] The Supreme Court Upheld Health Reform,        NOW It's Time for Quinn to Act! 

Dear Friends, 

Champaign County Health Care Consumers (CCHCC) emailed you exactly one 
week ago today with the great news that the US Supreme Court had upheld the 
national health reform law, also known as the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act (PPACA). NOW IS THE TIME for Illinois to establish the 
Health Benefits Exchange, and we are asking you to TAKE ACTION to call on 
Governor Quinn to establish the Exchange through an Executive Order. 

We need Governor Quinn to act quickly to establish the Illinois Health 
Benefits Exchange to ensure that Illinois does not miss key funding 
opportunities and deadlines. Please read on for the THREE ways YOU can take 
action, followed by more information on the US Supreme Court decisions, and 
what the next steps are for implementing health reform! 

* * * * * * * * * * 
TAKE ACTION 

1. Add your name to CCHCC's petition calling on Governor Quinn to 
establish the Health Benefits Exchange in Illinois! CCHCC will deliver the 
petition to Governor Quinn's office. 

http://signon.org/sign/call-to-governor-quinn 

2. Call Governor Quinn and tell him to establish a pro-consumer Illinois 
Health Benefits Exchange using an Executive Order! 

Springfield Office: (217) 782-0244 or Chicago Office: (312) 814-2121 

Sample Script: 

"Hi. My name is __<name>__, and I am calling from __<town, IL>__. I am 
calling on Governor Quinn to use his power to issue an Executive Order to 
create a pro-consumer Health Exchange in Illinois today. The Exchange 
should be set up so that no insurance representatives serve on the Board, 
insurance companies should help pay for the Exchange, and the Exchange must 
have the power to negotiate with insurance companies to contain costs." 

3. Call your state legislators - Senator Frerichs and Representative 
Jakobsson - and tell them to call on Quinn to establish a pro-consumer 
Illinois Health Benefits Exchange using an Executive Order! 

Sen. Frerichs: (217) 355-5252 
Rep. Jakobsson: (217) 373-5000 

Sample Script: 

"Hi. My name is __<name>__, and I am calling from __<town, IL>__. I am 
asking you as my state legislator to call on Governor Quinn to use his 
power to issue an Executive Order to create a pro-consumer Health Exchange 
in Illinois today. The Exchange should be set up so that no insurance 
representatives serve on the Board, insurance companies should help pay for 
the Exchange, and the Exchange must have the power to negotiate with 
insurance companies to contain costs." 

* * * * * * * * * * 

US SUPREME COURT RULING ON HEALTH REFORM: 

Last Thursday, June 28, the US Supreme Court upheld the health reform law! 
The Court held up the Individual Mandate as a tax. Most individuals will be 
required to have health insurance, and, based on the Court's decision, 
individuals can be taxed if they are required to carry health insurance, 
but for whatever reason, choose not to do so. In 2014, most people who do 
not currently have insurance will qualify for the expanded Medicaid program 
or for subsidies that cover most, if not all, of their insurance costs. For 
more information on how this works, please visit: 

http://healthreform.kff.org/the-basics/requirement-to-buy-coverage-flowchart.aspx. 

The Supreme Court decide that the federal government could not withhold 
Medicaid funding to states that choose not to expand their Medicaid 
eligibility requirements in 2014. Even with this ruling, we expect many 
states to choose to expand Medicaid as the federal government would 
reimburse states 100% of the costs for covering individuals within the new 
eligibility range in 2014. In 2017 the reimbursement rate would be 95% and 
in 2020 the rate would be 90%. Gov. Quinn made clear that Illinois would 
participate in the expanded Medicaid program: "Illinois is going forward 
with the president... we are not backing down. We want everybody in, nobody 
left out when it comes to decent health care coverage. Our state will be 
healthier and stronger, our costs for our employers will be lower if we 
carry this law out to its extent." 

CCHCC will continue to focus on ensuring that Illinois moves forward with 
the state-level tasks of implementing health reform, such as creating a 
Health Benefits Exchange. In May, the US Dept. Health and Human Services 
announced a third model for exchanges (either a state or regional exchange 
vs. a federal exchange). The new federal-state partnership model would give 
states - that are behind in setting up their exchange or face contentious 
political divisions preventing progress forward - a chance to work 
cooperatively with the federal government for the first year until they can 
as they continue to set up their own exchange. While this is better than no 
exchange, this limits states from having full governance and control over 
how their exchange runs and operates. States have until November 16, 2012, 
to submit their plans to establish an exchange in their state and Illinois' 
Fall Veto legislative session does not occur until after that deadline. 

* * * * * * * * * * 

On behalf of Champaign County Health Care Consumers, we thank you for 
taking action to ensure that Illinoisans have access to quality and 
affordable health care through a locally-governed pro-consumer Health 
Benefits Exchange! 

Sincerely, 

Champaign County Health Care Consumers 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Champaign County Health Care Consumers 
44 E. Main Street  Suite 208 
Champaign, IL 61820 

Phone: (217) 352-6533 
Fax:   (217) 352-9745 
E-mail: cchcc at healthcareconsumers.org 
Web:    www.healthcareconsumers.org 

Check out CCHCC on Faceebook at www.facebook.com/healthcareconsumers! 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Support health care justice - donate to CCHCC today! Visit our website to make a tax-deductible contribution today. 
http://www.healthcareconsumers.org/index.php?action=Donation 
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