April 30, 2008
Dear Partners,
Thank you to all of you who attended the Alliance’s Children’s Healthcare Summit yesterday in Lowell. We were so pleased to have close to 100 partners at the event, and we are eager to read your feedback on the meeting and follow-up with you on our next steps.
We are writing to you because we need you to reach out to your members of Congress today about the August 17th CMS SCHIP Directive.
At yesterday’s Summit we heard a presentation about SCHIP and the likely impact of the August 17th CMS Directive on our region’s states (see a fact sheet by Georgetown’s Center on Children and Families). The Directive will take effect this August, and we are hoping that Congress will pass a moratorium to delay the implementation of this damaging provision.
It is unlikely that a moratorium in a free-standing bill will pass through Congress. Therefore, Congress needs to attach the moratorium to another bill that will pass through both Chambers. In this election year, there are few options and the most viable option is the supplemental Iraq appropriations bill.
We learned last night that the opportunity for attaching the moratorium on the August 17th CMS Directive to the Iraq supplemental bill is quickly disappearing; in fact, we will likely only have until tomorrow (Friday) to try and reach out to our Delegation and ask them to weigh in on the importance of this moratorium.
This is one of the most important alerts we have sent, and we strongly encourage you to take the following ACTION STEPS:
1. Partners in CT, MA & RI
Please contact:
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) 202-225-3661
John Olver (D-MA) 202-225-5335
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) 202-225-4911
These three Representatives sit on the House Appropriations Committee. Ask them to speak with Congressman Obey, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, about attaching the moratorium on the August 17th CMS Directive to the supplemental Iraq appropriations bill.
2. Partners is all 6 New England states
Please call your Congressperson and ask him/her to:
1. Contact Speaker Pelosi and say that they want the moratorium on the August 17th CMS Directive attached to the supplemental Iraq appropriations bill.
2. Contact any member of the House Appropriations Committee with whom they have a relationship and encourage them to attach the moratorium on the August 17th CMS Directive to the supplemental Iraq appropriations bill.
Please contact your Governor and ask him/her to:
1. Contact Speaker Pelosi and say that they want the moratorium on the August 17th CMS SCHIP Directive attached to the supplemental Iraq appropriations bill.
Please take time out of your busy schedule today to make these very important calls. Five of 6 New England states will be impacted by this directive – it is very important they we get our delegation to actively weigh in on this issue.
I am out of the office today, so if you have any questions please contact me by email at arosenthal@communitycatalyst.org or contact Erin McDuffie at emcduffie@communitycatalyst.org.
Thank you in advance for reaching out to our elected officials.
Sincerely,
Amy Rosenthal
Project Director
New England Alliance for Children’s Health
