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***MEDICAID
ALERT*** EXTREMELY URGENT! CRITICAL VOTE ON MEDICAID CUTS.
Contact Your Senators and Congressperson Today! March 14th!
TAKE
ACTION NOW!
***MEDICAID
ALERT***
TAKE
ACTION NOW!
The budget debate over Medicaid is
reaching a critical stage. The Senate will vote THIS WEEK on its budget
resolution (S Con Res 18) that calls for Medicaid cuts over 5 years. These cuts
are twice the amount proposed by the Administration! An amendment to
eliminate these cuts will also be introduced. This is
the biggest vote on Medicaid since the program was created in
1965. Your help is needed more
than ever!! (Visit Your Congressperson too)
A vote on this amendment, the
Smith-Bingaman
amendment, could take place as early as Tuesday. It may not take place until
Wednesday or Thursday, so you still have time to place your calls.
Both the Senate and House Budget
Committees have voted on and passed their respective budget resolutions. Both
resolutions contain deep and harmful cuts to Medicaid. Both budget committees
have inserted even DEEPER cuts than the Administration asked for. Congress
will be in recess for two weeks beginning March 21.
When they return, the House and Senate
will go to conference to resolve differences in their resolutions and then each
chamber will vote on a budget resolution. We must ensure that the Senate
version contains no cuts.
The first step to minimize the Medicaid
cuts in the federal budget process rests with the Senate this week. Senators
Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Jeff
Bingaman (D-NM) will introduce a bipartisan
amendment that will come to the Senate floor for a vote either Tuesday,
Wednesday or Thursday. This amendment to the Senate’s version of the 2006
budget resolution would:
1.
Eliminate the
Medicaid cuts from the Senate’s Budget Resolution.
2.
Create a 23 person
Bipartisan Medicaid Commission
to make recommendations to Congress. (See
S. 338)
3.
Authorize roughly
$1.5 million to fund the Commission’s work.
THE SMITH - BINGAMAN AMENDMENT could be
introduced as early as Tuesday. This is THE Medicaid vote of our times. We
need all NYSACRA members, family members and direct support professionals to
contact their Senators TODAY!
TAKE ACTION NOW!!
TELEPHONE BOTH
SENATORS
SCHUMER:
202-224-6542 & CLINTON: 202-224-4451
MESSAGE:
VOTE FOR THE SMITH-BINGAMAN AMENDMENT to strike the Medicaid cuts from the
budget resolution.
You can also use
the NYSACRA Action & Education Center sample letter to send an email, by
Clicking Here. Or visit www.nysacra.org
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Next, contact
your Congressperson and make an appointment to meet with them at home in your
district between March 21st and April 3rd. THIS IS
CRITICAL!!!
Attend town hall meetings and forums. Write op-eds and letters to the
editor of your local newspapers. You can use the NYSACRA Action Center for
links to your local papers,
Click Here.
Carry the message
that Medicaid is a successful program and does not deserve to be cut in order to
reduce the federal deficit. This will only shift health care costs to the
states, to Medicaid beneficiaries and to providers. Tell them your personal
stories! Tell them about the real people you support.
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You can also use a toll free number to telephone your Senators - 1-800-828-0498.
This line goes directly to the Capitol switchboard, but may often be busy.
After you call your first Senator, hang up the phone, please dial again and
call your other Senator.
Click Here for more information
Provided by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
www.cbpp.org |
