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On June 26, 2009,
the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in the U.S. House of
Representatives introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act
of 2009 (H.R. 3090) on behalf of the Tri-Caucus which also includes
the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and the Congressional Asian
Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC). H.R. 3090 focuses on addressing
health disparities in coverage and access and aims to create an
equitable health care system that works for everyone in the U.S.
The House will be
reviewing H.R. 3090 this week. Because the Health Equity and
Accountability Act of 2009 (H.R. 3090) addresses many of the barriers
faced by low-income immigrants in seeking health care (see below) which
have not yet been addressed by any of the other current health care
reform legislation, Congress must include H.R. 3090 as part of health
care reform to address the inequities of our health care system and to
achieve real reform.
Please contact
the members in the House listed below IMMEDIATELY to let them know you
support H.R. 3090 and that it must be included in any comprehensive,
health care reform legislation.
Suggested Message:
"[My organization and state]
supports H.R. 3090 which provides equity in coverage and access in
the health care system that is needed for real health care reform.
We urge you to include H.R. 3090 in any final health care reform
legislation that Congress passes this year."
Key Provisions of the Act that will
address the needs of low-income immigrants include:
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Restoring Medicaid and CHIP to
otherwise eligible, lawfully present immigrants without a waiting
period and sponsor-related barriers.
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Ensuring that otherwise eligible,
lawfully present immigrants can buy into Medicare and can qualify
for the Medicare Savings Programs (administered under Medicaid).
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Ensuring that ALL children, regardless
of status, can receive Medicaid or CHIP (if otherwise eligible).
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Ensuring that ALL pregnant women,
regardless of status, can receive affordable prenatal care for a
healthy pregnancy through Medicaid or CHIP (if otherwise eligible).
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Ensuring that lawfully present
immigrants have access to nutrition assistance.
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Improving federal investment and
standards for cultural competency and language access for providers
and public health programs.
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Requiring more comprehensive
collection of data on race, ethnicity, and language in all federal
health programs as a strategy for addressing health disparities.
H.R. 3090 is available at
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Please immediately contact the following
members of leadership in the House of Representatives and Chairs of the
three key House health reform committees by email or phone at
866-210-3678:
Letters of Support
You may also send a letter of support of
H.R. 3090 to the Tri-Caucus:
Make sure Congress knows that federal
health care reform must include EVERYONE and that true reform will not
work for all of us unless immigrants are also able to contribute and
have access to coverage and care!
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