Domestic Weekly Update January 12, 2010

This health care fight is part of our bigger fight for a better world. . . . If one piece of legislation reflects your values and vision, then your values and vision are too small.

— Trade Union Activist Nick Unger on the January 2010 RESULTS Domestic National Conference Call

New and Urgent in This Week’s Update

Final Health Care Bill Must Increase Access to Health Care

Latest from Washington, DC, and Beyond

Start Preparing for Group Planning
Fundraising Update: Thank You!
Quick News

Organizational Reminders and Updates

Announcements
Upcoming Events
RESULTS Contact Information

Final Health Care Bill Must Increase Access to Health Care (January Action)

Congressional leaders have decided to bypass the normal conference committee process in resolving differences between health reform bills passed by the two houses of Congress. House and Senate leaders are now negotiating informally in the hopes of coming to a final agreement in the next several weeks. The Senate bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R.3590), passed on December 24, 2009. The House passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R.3962) on November 7.

While neither bill is perfect and RESULTS remains committed to a single-payer national health care plan, we want Congress to pass a strong, meaningful health reform bill as soon as possible. Our goals continue to be the broadest possible Medicaid coverage and the biggest possible expansion of community health centers (CHC). The House bill expands Medicaid to everyone at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty line; the Senate goes up to 133 percent. The House also begins the expansion a year earlier (2013) than the Senate (2014). The two bills differ in amount of aid to the states to pay for increased Medicaid coverage.

Another key issue is how much doctors are paid under Medicaid. The House bill raises reimbursement rates to Medicaid care providers, to encourage them to accept Medicaid patients. Right now, Medicaid doctors are only paid 66 percent of what Medicare doctors are paid for primary care. As a results, according to a survey by the Center for Health System Change, in 2008 only 40 percent of physicians accept all new Medicaid patients, and 28 percent accepted NO Medicaid patients. RESULTS has signed onto a letter to congressional leaders that asks them to adopt “the House provision to adjust Medicaid payments for primary care to at least 100 percent of Medicare rates.”

Finally, while both the House and Senate bills make significant increases in CHC funding, the House bill provides the most effective levels of funding with $14 billion over five years, in contrast to the Senate investment of $10 billion over five years.

On last Saturday’s RESULTS national conference call, AFL-CIO Training Director Nick Unger acknowledged that many of us feel like we have already lost in reform because we didn’t get everything we wanted, but he said it’s like we are “falling uphill” — what we’ve been looking for has been chipped away, but we are still an inch away from the biggest health care bill since our great-grandparents.

We on the RESULTS staff continue be awed by the work you all do and the accomplishments you have all achieved in this process. We know that this work has been hard and many of you are probably tired and frustrated. But as Nick pointed out, we are not just fighting for the strongest health reform bill possible; we are also fighting for the soul of America. In RESULTS parlance, this is a “trimtabbing” moment, where we are using targeted and strategic influence to help change the priorities of our nation. RESULTS Director of Domestic Campaigns Meredith Dodson had this reflection over the weekend:

On Friday, my son Sean took his first steps. As I went to sleep thinking about that milestone, I reflected on how his development has overlapped with the work that you all have done. He was born exactly one week before the 2008 elections and he is growing up in a time when we as a country are deliberating on what kind of society we want to have, including whether every American, rich or poor, has the right to health — rather than just the lucky few while the rest of us have to fend for ourselves. Of course, I know that what’s on the table is not perfect — just like many of you out there know that an endeavor like parenting can be hard. But I also believe that we need to keep on keeping on, and that what you all have been doing over the past year or so is moving us closer to the kind of country I want him to grow up in.

TAKE ACTION: Take the January Action. This is the final push for real reform! Contact senators and representatives, or their staff, directly and ask them to push for the strongest provisions for Medicaid and community health centers. Be sure to contact all the House and Senate offices in your state, not just your specific members of Congress. The action sheet contains speaking points and a side-by-side comparison of House and Senate bills (you can also see them in our online call-in alert).

When contacting them, urge your members of Congress to weigh in with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-8) on these points:

Medicaid should cover everyone up to 150 percent of the federal poverty line.
The Medicaid expansion should start as early as possible and the federal government should cover 100 percent of the cost for as long as possible.
Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care providers should equal Medicare reimbursement rates.
Existing Medicaid benefits should be maintained for all current and new enrollees.
Funding for community health centers should be set at the House level of $14 billion over five years.

Contact the networks you cultivated in November and December and urge them to call as well. We are in the home stretch and it is going to take an effort from everyone to get meaningful health reform across the finish line. Activate your networks now!

If you cannot get through to your members of Congress DC offices, try their local offices in your state. If you don’t get through the first time, try again later. Also, you can supplement your calls by sending an e-mail to them. You can find contact info on our Elected Officials page of the RESULTS website.

If you were not on the national conference call on Saturday, you can listen to it online at http://www.resultsmusings.blogspot.com/l. You can watch an edited version of an inspiring talk last Saturday’s guest speaker Nick Unger gave in November at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKUJAfreJPU.

Start Preparing for Group Planning

As mentioned on last Saturday’s conference call, RESULTS groups normally spend time in January working on group planning for the year. Group planning is designed to have your group identify objectives and goals that you want to achieve as individuals and as a group.

Because completing health reform needs all of our attention right now as Congress drafts its final bill, we are moving our domestic planning process to February this year. This way we can stay focused on health reform now and have a more effective planning process next month. However, you can start getting ready now.

TAKE ACTION: Here are a few key steps we suggest you take to make it the February group planning process easy and successful:

If you did not do so last Saturday after the conference call, schedule a specific time in February for your group to do group planning. Some groups do it in conjunction with the monthly conference call (February 13) or during their second monthly meeting; others set up a separate meeting each year just for group planning.
Go to the RESULTS Group Resources page to find the RESULTS 2010 Group Planning Materials and print off the Individual Planning Form. Complete it before your February group planning meeting, so you’ll have that information already available when you start your planning.
Review the Economic Opportunity PowerPoint Presentation when you have a minute to help you understand the background for our primary 2010 campaign: Low-Income Tax Credits: Creating Economic Opportunity. You can also read more about this campaign on our Economic Opportunity pages of the RESULTS website.

If you have any questions about group planning or our 2010 legislative campaign, please contact Meredith Dodson (dodson@results.org) or Jos Linn (jlinn@results.org). We will have more about group planning in the coming weeks and on the February 13 national conference call.

Fundraising Update: Thank You!

This year we had a generous matching challenge where a donor offered to match up to $30K in new resources brought in at the end of the year. Well, we not only have we met this match, we have raised over $50,000 through grassroots efforts in November and December — that’s a remarkable testament to your generosity as well as your outreach and persistence. I cannot tell you how important this is and how fortunate we are to have this kind of base of support — at a time when so many organizations are struggling in this economy. And this is in addition to other generous contributions from individual major donors.

— RESULTS/REF Executive Director Joanne Carter

Thank you all for your hard work in our 2009 Fall Fundraising Campaign! Your own donations and donations you leveraged for RESULTS have generated important resources in our continued work to bring an end to poverty in the U.S. and around the world. The fall fundraising campaign had a total of 14 domestic groups participating. Excluding major fundraising events, our goal was the raise $18,000 and we’ve raised almost $13,000 so far. Congratulations on your wonderful work! In the coming weeks, we will have the final totals for you.

Wrap Up Fundraising Activities This Week. Please look at your individual and group goals for the 2009 campaign and assess whether you will meet your goals. At this point, it is important to have an accurate picture of what is likely to be raised. While we obviously hope you meet (and exceed) your goals, please know that if you do not quite make your target, your efforts are still vital to our success and greatly appreciated. Aim to complete your wrap up by January 15 and then let your Regional Coordinators know what your final goals and totals will be. If you have any questions, please contact Cynthia Stancil at cstancil@results.org.

Donations Always Welcome. If you have not donated yourself and would like to, or if know others who would like to financially support RESULTS/REF, please use our easy, breezy online donation form to make your contribution. (Please note that REF donations made after December 31, 2009 are not tax deductible until tax year 2010).

Quick News

House Passes Bill Expanding Child Tax Credit. On December 16, the House passed the Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 (H.R. 2847). The bill is focuses on important elements needed to spur job growth, and includes an expansion of Child Tax Credit (CTC). At a cost of $2.3 billion, it would lower the CTC income eligibility threshold from $3,000 to zero for 2010, which makes the CTC available to all low-income working families with children. RESULTS has long supported eliminating the threshold for the CTC and we applaud the House’s action. The bill also provides that the refunds from the CTC provision do not count in determining eligibility or benefits for federal or federal/state programs such as SNAP or TANF. You can take action on expanding low-income tax credits like the CTC and EITC by taking our online Economic Opportunity e-mail alert.

RESULTS Signs onto Child Nutrition Budget Request. RESULTS joined other advocates in signing onto a letter to congressional leaders that mentions the president’s proposal of $1 billion more per year for child nutrition reauthorization. This amount is needed to start down the path of eliminating childhood hunger by the year 2015. The letter concludes, “Despite the extraordinary challenges facing our nation, investing in our children must remain a top priority. The child nutrition programs must receive the critical funding needed to support and improve the nutritional health and well-being of our children.”

Announcements

RESULTS 2010 Media Training Calls Set to Begin. RESULTS staff schedules optional training calls each month to provide you support in your work to create the political will to end poverty. On January 21 we will have our first training call of 2010 — Media Training: A Step by Step Approach to Engaging Your Editorial Writer. RESULTS staff persons Ken Patterson, Jos Linn, and Blair Hinderliter will lead this call in helping develop relationships with editorial writers in your area. If you don’t know where to start with your editorial writer, this is the call for you. Join us for the call on Thursday, January 21 at 9:00 pm ET, (712) 432-3100, passcode 887871.

Upcoming Events

(Click to see a complete calendar)

January 21: Media Training: A Step by Step Approach to Engaging Your Editorial Writer, 9:00 pm ET, (712) 432-3100, passcode 887871.

February 12: RESULTS Domestic National Conference Call, 12:30 pm ET.

June 20–22, 2010: RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference, Washington Marriott Hotel, Washington, DC.

RESULTS Contact Information

Main Office: (p) (202) 783-7100, (f) (202) 783-2818, 750 First Street NE, Suite 1040, Washington DC 20002.

Domestic Legislative and Grassroots Support Staff: Meredith Dodson, x116 (dodson@results.org); Alan Gold, x106 (gold@results.org); Jos Linn, (515) 288-3622 (jlinn@results.org).

The RESULTS Domestic Update is sent out every Tuesday over e-mail to RESULTS volunteers and allies all over the country. You can read this update online at RESULTS U.S. Poverty Action and News page. The purpose of these updates is to inform and activate RESULTS activists to take action on our domestic campaigns.

If you would like to unsubscribe from these updates, follow the link below or contact Alan Gold at gold@results.org or (202) 783-7100.

RESULTS - The Power to End Poverty