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A Message from the Health Care Reform Forum

1/14/2019

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Have You Contacted Your Senators Lately About the ACA?

A month ago, we were all alarmed about a Texas judge’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional.  He ruled that, since the requirement for all to carry health insurance was eliminated in the 2018 tax law, the entire Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional.  If upheld, his ruling would strip away quality, affordable health insurance from millions of Americans, including protection for over 133 million Americans from losing coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Fortunately that ruling was widely criticized as faulty, or even frivolous, and Attorneys General of 17 states, including Illinois AG Lisa Madigan, have challenged the ruling in court.  This and other legal appeals insure that the ACA benefits will remain in effect for the foreseeable future.  So for now at least, the over 8.4 million Americans who signed up for insurance in 2019 on the ACA marketplaces will continue to have the security of good health insurance.

The midterm elections changed the political dynamics in the House of Representatives, and the new membership has already begun to take actions to support the ACA and to address the issue of the rapidly increasing cost of prescription drugs.  The majority in the new House has formally authorized attorneys to join those who are challenging the ruling of the Texas judge, and this past week 235 members voted to support the ACA protections for those with pre-existing conditions.

We recognize that actions by the people’s House will probably be buried in the Senate and/or be vetoed by the President, but they will send an important message to all legislators, and to the public, that quality, affordable health insurance is supported by most Americans.

Our forum will continue to monitor developments in health care and inform you of actions you can take to support positive reform proposals.  In the meantime, continue to contact your legislators and urge them again to recognize the popular support for quality, affordable health care, including coverage for pre-existing conditions, and to add their voices and votes to legislation that moves toward the goal of effective, accessible, affordable health care for all Americans.

Thank you for all you have done—and keep up the good work!

Frank Samuelson,
Health Care Reform Forum
[email protected]
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Recent ACA Ruling in Texas

12/17/2018

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Regarding The Recent Ruling Invalidating the ACA

from the PACG Health Care Reform Forum

​We are, of course, dismayed that one federal judge in Texas has ruled to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act, but we will immediately begin looking at what actions we might take and/or recommend to the PACG membership in order to help fight this ruling, to support the ACA, and to continue to work for quality, accessible, affordable health care for all Americans.

    
In the meantime, please remember that the ACA is still the law of the land.  
    
There will be a long process of legal appeals, probably ending up in the Supreme Court.  The five judges who voted to uphold the law when it was first challenged are still on the court.  The ACA continues to gather increasing public support even as major benefits of the law have been challenged or eliminated by the present administration.  We hope that support, including from grassroots Americans, will help elect a new congress and president in 2020 that will uphold, strengthen, and expand the provisions of the ACA.

So don’t panic. The ACA is still in effect for the foreseeable future, and we will be bringing forward some actions we can take to fend off this latest effort to repeal it.

Frank Samuelson
[email protected]
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Take Action to Stop the Department of the Interior Records Destruction!

11/12/2018

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Stop the Massive Destruction of Department of Interior Records by Secretary Ryan Zinke
**Comment Period Ends: Friday, November 23rd 5:00 pm**


Environmental Forum
The National Archives and Records Administration

The Department of the Interior has sent National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) a massive "Request for Records Disposition Authority," (i.e. permission to destroy old records.)

Interior’s request involves documents about oil and gas leases, mining, dams, wells, timber sales, marine conservation, fishing, endangered species, non-endangered species, critical habitats, land acquisition, and more.

The request covers these categories of documents from every agency within the Interior Department, including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and others.

The request covers already-existing documents going back more than 50 years and consisting of thousands of cubic feet of paper documents and gigabytes of digital documents. Besides existing documents, as usual, the proposed schedule will also apply to all future documents created in these categories (whether on paper or born digital).  Source: altgov2.org/doi-records-destruction/

Action:

Email [email protected] with a Public Comment. Deadline: November 23, 2018.


Sample Script:     
"I am writing about action DAA-0048-2015-0003. I am against this massive destruction of records. This content would normally be kept and preserved by the U.S. Department of Interior. I am asking National Archives to deny Secretary Zinke's request so that these records are kept as they should be." [Sign with your name]

Call your representatives.  Here is a suggested call Script:
"My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Progression Action for the Common Good in the Quad Cities.

"Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has asked the National Archives for a massive destruction of records that normally are kept for historical purposes. This is an unusual and troubling request. I am asking you to investigate this request and to stop the destruction of important and valuable records. The National Archives ID number is DAA-0048-2015-0003."

ILLINOIS

Senator Dick Durbin (D) 202-224-2152 or 309-786-5173

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D) 202-224-2854 or 312- 886-3506

US Representative Cheri Bustos (D) 202-225-5905 or 309-786-3406

IOWA

Senator Chuck Grassley (R)
 202-224-3744 or 563-322-433

Senator Joni Ernst (R) 202-224-3254 or 563-322-0677

Representative Dave Loebsack (D) 202 225-6576 or 563-323-5988

We need to act now!!

Susan Leuthauser
[email protected]
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We Are All Dreamers - A Rally in Support of DACA Recipients

9/17/2017

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Many Quad Citians came out in support of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients on Saturday, September 16 at the Esperanza Center in Moline for the We Are All Dreamers Rally.
 
Television coverage from KWQC can be viewed here.
 
Alta Price spoke on behalf of PACG. Her remarks are below:
 
My name is Alta Price. I am the President of the Board of Directors of Progressive Action for the Common Good. We are also known as PACG, but I am going to use our full name because it explains what we do.
 
Progressive Action for the Common Good. We work for the Common Good of our cities, states, country, and world. The Common Good includes many different things that we work for – access to health care, a clean environment, and civil rights are some of them.
 
Immigration promotes the Common Good. Our country has been enriched by earlier immigrants, just as it is enriched by the Dreamers and other immigrants today.
 
Members of Progressive Action for the Common Good are Dreamers. We dream of social justice and a welcoming community that cares about everyone. But, as in our name, Progressive Action, we know we must take action to make our dreams come true. Dreams are important, but if you don’t take action to make your dreams come true, then I guess you’re just sleeping.
 
You have taken an action by attending this rally. We challenge each one of you to commit to taking three additional actions to help the DACA recipients. Be creative and practical when you choose your actions. And give yourself a deadline – 3 days, 3 weeks, or 3 months to do all 3 actions. But act soon, as the situation for DACA recipients is dire.
 
Here are 3 suggestions:
 
  1. Call your members of Congress, both Senators and your Representative. It is easy to find their phone numbers online. It doesn’t matter if you call their local office or D.C. office. It is very simple. Dial the number. Tell the staff person that answers that you want your member of Congress to vote for the 2017 Dream Act. That’s it. Simple, but extremely effective.
  2. After you’ve made your calls, ask your friends and family to call their members of Congress. If millions call, Congress will pass the 2017 Dream Act.
  3. Join with others to strategize more actions. It can be a group of your friends, or join one of the organizations here today and help them work on helping DACA recipients and other immigrants. I would invite any of you to join with the Civil Rights Forum of PACG to work on DACA and other civil rights issues. We will be meeting at the Spanish Mennonite Church in Moline (613 3rd St, Moline) on Thursday, Sept 21 at 5 pm to figure out our next steps.
 
We are all Dreamers. But we must all take action if we want our dreams to come true, and if we want to help the Dreamers.

 
September 16, 2017
 
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Prescription Drug Pricing

6/19/2017

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Hea​lth Care Reform Forum

Trump Says House Health Bill "Mean."  That was the headline after the President met with senators last week.  We agree.  Now, he should act and not just talk.

In the meantime,  our Health Care Reform Forum continues its series of letters to the editors on Prescription Drug Pricing.

Pharmaceutical companies continue to be the most profitable segment of our economy. The companies claim that high prices fund necessary research and development (R&D). However, 9 of the 10 top pharmaceutical companies spend much more on marketing and sales, totaling $3 billion annually to consumers and $24 billion to healthcare providers, than on R&D. The U.S. is one of only two countries in the world to permit the advertising of drugs.

The drug companies have other strategies to increase prices to prescription drugs. Most new drugs are patented, giving the manufacturer monopolistic marketing and price protection for up to 20 years. But when the patent is due to expire, companies often make a minor change in the formula, and get a new patent to maintain profits

Another strategy is to keep generic versions of the drugs off the market, sometimes by paying generic manufacturers to postpone the introduction of cheaper versions.

Another strategy is to buy the rights to an old, cheap, “niche market” drug with only one supplier, and then hike the price by several hundred percent. Patients who need that drug are hostage to that inflated price.

They also encourage the use of prescription drugs for purposes other than that for which they have been tested and approved by the FDA.

By using these monopolistic strategies, pharmaceutical companies have proven that they cannot moderate their own pricing practices. We need to tell our legislators to regulate the costs of these necessary and often life-saving medications like is done in nearly every other country.

Doug McCollum,
Rock Island

Frank Samuelson
[email protected]
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Repair and Strengthen the ACA, Not Replace It!

6/16/2017

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Health Care  Reform Forum

As the Congressional effort to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act moves to the Senate, we progressives need to tell our senators to dump the draconian House bill which will cause 24 million Americans to lose their health insurance, reduce Medicaid for the most vulnerable, and give tax benefits to the wealthy and corporations (among other things).  Tell your senators now to repair and strengthen the ACA, not replace it.  

When the House and Senate bills move to the conference committee, we will evaluate that result and again have the opportunity to contact our representatives and senators with our opinions.

In the meantime, our Health Care Reform Forum is beginning an effort to raise awareness and understanding about a major factor in the ever-rising cost of health care: the rapidly escalating prices of prescription drugs.  We have begun to submit a series of letters to the editors of the Quad City Times and the Dispatch/Argus, and we plan to include them in this newsletter.  We hope they will help you to better understand this multi-faceted issue and to share this information with others.  We need to tell our legislators that the pharmaceutical industry has shown that it cannot resist putting profits over people; therefore Congress must act in the public interest.  Here is the first letter in this series.

PRESCRIPTON DRUG PRICING

One factor in the rising cost of health care, and therefore of health insurance premiums and copays, is the rapid escalation of prescription drug prices.  Some medications have seen price increases of several hundred per cent over a few months or years.  Many new drugs are priced much higher than the costs of development, testing, and bringing them to market. Protected by patents, and promoted by advertising, drug companies charge whatever the market will bear. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable in our economy.

But these escalating prices are paid for by the patients who need these treatments and by the insurance companies and government agencies that pay the bills.  President Trump raised this issue in a meeting with pharmaceutical CEOs.  Other politicians, Congressional committees and health care experts have also raised the alarm. Since drug companies can’t resist using all the “tricks of the trade” to raise prices and profits, only our government can bring some rationality and fairness into the system.  But so far it’s all talk and no action.

One simple first step toward addressing this problem would be for Congress to change the law that forbids Medicare from negotiating prices with the drug companies. Private insurance companies, the Veterans’ Administration, and most governments around the world negotiate drug prices.  Medicare should also.  Tell your representatives and senators to act now to let fairness, competition, and market forces, rather than monopolistic practices, set the prices of our prescription drugs.

Frank Samuelson
[email protected]
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Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Prices

6/16/2017

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Heath Care Reform Forum

Our government has a long history of regulating prescription drugs for safety and effectiveness.  We need to tell our representatives that it's time to address drug pricing.  Here's why:

Wonder why health care costs in the USA are almost twice as much as they are in other developed countries? Follow the money from the pockets of the paying patients to the coffers of Big Pharma. One major reason for the higher cost of health care and insurance premiums is skyrocketing prescription drug prices.

Among the most profitable industries in the U.S. economy, pharmaceutical companies benefit from legal protections and from monopolistic and marketing practices that enable them to set prices without relation to the costs of production or a competitive marketplace.

Recently one company bought the rights to the drug Daraprim and overnight hiked the price 5000%, from $13.50 to $750.  Another bought the right to sell the life-saving drug, Epinephrine, in a two pack dispenser and raised the price 650% from $94 to $608. These two examples reflect an industry wide trend that has caused loud complaints from the public and congressional committees.

In 1940, Congress created the Food and Drug Administration in response to a lethal mistake by a drug company that caused 100 people to die. The FDA now protects the public by assuring that all drugs are proven “safe and effective” before they can be marketed.

Prohibitively high prices of life-saving medications are deadly to the public. Let's tell our congressmen/women and senators to protect us by regulating the costs of pharmaceuticals so they will be available and affordable for all of us.

Clara Caldwell
Rock Island
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