The Senate is closing in on a health care bill with a public health insurance option, a key ingredient of meaningful health care reform.

But conservatives and insurance companies are fighting hard against the public option, so Senate leadership has compromised by including an “opt-out” clause, which would allow individual states to choose not to participate in the program.^[1]

There’s a real danger here. In the stimulus fight, we saw Republican governors and legislators refuse federal dollars for political gain. The same thing could happen with health care reform, with everday people in states like Lousiana, Alabama, and South Carolina — states with large Black, poor, and working-class populations — left out.^[2]

That’s why I’ve joined ColorOfChange.org’s campaign calling on Congress and the White House to make the public option available everywhere. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/healthcare/?id=1620-132658

I understand the need for compromise and negotiation, but I also want to make sure that no community gets negotiated away in the process.

Including “opt-out” may be the best way to get a bill through the Senate with a public option–but that won’t be the end of the process, and it doesn’t mean “opt-out” will be in the final bill. The House still needs to decide exactly what will be in its health care bill. And once both the House and the Senate have passed legislation, they’ll have to negotiate with each other, and the White House, to reconcile the differences between the two bills.

That’s why we need to make it clear that we’re watching and that we will demand a public option that’s available in every state. Please join me in sending this message to Congress and the White House, and ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/healthcare/?id=1620-132658

Thank you.

References:

1. “So what is the ‘opt-out’ compromise?” Talking Points Memo, 10-26-2009
http://tinyurl.com/yjffquq

2. “Public option opt out denies help to those who need it most,” Fire Dog Lake, 10-8-2009
http://tinyurl.com/yks5sxz

Dear Friends,

President Obama is trying to reform our broken health care system, which has left more than 45 million Americans uninsured^[1] and millions more with insurance that won’t provide the treatment they need.^[2]

Some in Congress are with Obama. But the insurance industry, with help from Republicans^[3] and so-called centrist Democrats,^[4] is leading the charge to kill a key part of his plan — a government-run insurance plan that would increase the number of Americans covered, called the “public option.” Industry groups are spending millions — $35 million in lobbying costs alone^[5] — to convince people that they won’t be able to choose their doctor, that government will be making their medical decisions, that they’d be forced to take the government’s plan, and that the plan is part of some socialist plot — all lies. In reality, the insurance industry is trying to protect its enormous profits on the backs of everyday people.

For Black folks, the stakes couldn’t be higher: we are twice as likely as Whites to be uninsured, we have more than double the rate of infant mortality, we face more than twice the rate of diabetes-related deaths than Whites — and the list goes on.^[6]

While the fight rages in Washington, our voices are simply not at the table. That’s why I’ve joined ColorOfChange.org in telling Congress that every person in this country should have equal access to affordable health care, regardless of race, income, or any other factor. Will you join me? It only takes a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/health/?id=1620-132658

Americans understand the idea of the public option and overwhelmingly support it — three out of four people want the federal government to offer insurance coverage.^[7,8] But powerful lobbying groups like America’s Health Insurance Plans, Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, and the American Medical Association — representing the insurance industry, the drug industry, and doctors — are doing everything in their power to maintain the status quo.^[9]

Several organizations have pushed back, including MoveOn.org — a key partner of ours in this fight — but it will take all of us standing up if we want to win.

A public option makes sense for the country as a whole, and it makes particularly good sense for Black folks. Many of us make too much to qualify for Medicaid but either aren’t eligible for or aren’t adequately covered by private, employer-based plans. Overall, 21% of Blacks are uninsured, compared to 12% of Whites.^[10]

We need a public insurance option, but that’s not the only thing we should be fighting for. We need to push for equity in all aspects of our approach to health care. Every community deserves quality medical treatment, research and resources. That’s not what we’re getting now, and the numbers prove it:

• 22% of Black women say cost keeps them away from the doctor’s office, compared to 15% of White women ^[11]
• Black women have the highest rates of new AIDS cases, cancer mortality, obesity and low-weight infants of any ethnic or racial group ^[12]
• There are 13.6 Black infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 5.7 White infant deaths per 1,000 live births ^[13]
• There are 47 Black deaths from diabetes-related illness per 100,000 people, compared to 22.5 White deaths per 100,000 people ^[14]
• There are 60.1 new AIDS cases per 100,000 people among Blacks, compared to 6.7 new cases per 100,000 people among Whites ^[15]

Our opportunity to address the disparities that keep too many of us from enjoying long, healthy lives is now.

Please join me in telling our lawmakers that the first step toward improving our health care system is including a public plan that makes good health something everyone can afford:

http://www.colorofchange.org/health/?id=1620-132658

Thanks.

References:

• 1. http://www.kff.org/uninsured/7806.cfm
• 2. http://tinyurl.com/n2f3k7
• 3. http://tinyurl.com/l4ndwv
• 4. http://tinyurl.com/m5h8y7
• 5. http://tinyurl.com/m59ur5
• 6. http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/7633-02.pdf
• 7. http://tinyurl.com/mpo97j
• 8. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/19/opinion/polls/main5098517.shtml
• 9. http://tinyurl.com/lxpm3v
• 10. See #6
• 11. http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/7886ES.pdf
• 12. Ibid.
• 13. See #6
• 14. Ibid.
• 15. Ibid.

Additional resources:

• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/us/politics/14cong.html?_r=1
• http://www.slate.com/id/2220534/pagenum/all/

ColorOfChange.org.