Subject: [big campaign] FW: The Choice: Fix Our Health Care System, Or Let Opponents Unravel It
From: Adam Jentleson <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]'" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:30:54 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Fyi, here's our pushback from today -- focusing on making opponents own the course of action they're advocating.

-Adam

________________________________
From: Progressive Media [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 4:14 PM
To: Adam Jentleson
Subject: The Choice: Fix Our Health Care System, Or Let Opponents Unravel It

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July 14, 2009
MARKUPDATE

We Have A Choice: Fix The Health Care System So You Can Keep What You Have, Or Let Opponents Unravel It.

 *   Fixing the health care system will shore up our current employer-based system, letting you keep the insurance you have now. Once we fix the system, you will have stable coverage and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you will always be able to get the treatment you need, when you need it, and from the doctor you choose.

 *   But opponents of reform would unravel our employer-based health care system - leaving you at risk of losing the insurance you have now, and finding yourself even more vulnerable to abusive insurance industry practices.

 *   Our current employer-based health care system is already unraveling:
    *   More and more employers are dropping coverage<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=14153&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC>, leaving millions of Americans uninsured.
    *   Costs are skyrocketing<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=23943&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC>, with the average family's medical costs rise to $18,000 next year and double after that, reaching $36,000 by 2020.

 *   But opponents of reform would do more than sit idly by as our current system unravels - they would speed it up!

 *   The conservative alternative plan would actively unravel our current employer based system by replacing it with a meager tax subsidy that doesn't even cover half of the average family's health care costs, and leaving people even more vulnerable to abusive insurance industry practices.

    *   Just like the McCain plan that voters soundly rejected in November, the conservative alternative plan would completely eliminate the tax exemption for an employee's health benefits - leading large numbers of younger, healthier people to leave their employer-sponsored plans to buy insurance on their own.

    *   This, in turn, would drive up the cost of providing insurance for employers, leading many to drop it altogether - eliminating employer-sponsored care for many Americans who prefer it, and forcing them to buy insurance on their own.

    *   Meanwhile, the $5,700-per-family tax subsidy<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=21614&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC> proposed in the conservative alternative plan would cover less than half of the $12,680 that the average American family paid for health care in 2008<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=21615&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC>.

    *   And under the conservative alternative plan, insurance companies would be free to continue abusive practices - like denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, and canceling people's coverage for flimsy reasons as soon as they develop an illness or need significant care.

Fixing Health Care - What's In It For You.

For the average American family, fixing health care means...

 *   If you can't afford insurance, you will get help paying for premiums. If you hit a rough patch, you will get help to maintain your coverage.

 *   If you work for a small business employer that can't afford to buy you insurance, your employer will get help to buy you coverage.

 *   If you get sick, your insurance company will be barred from raising premiums to put coverage out of reach.

 *   Your insurance company can't cap and / or deny your benefits if you have a serious accident or illness.

 *   Your premiums will no longer be spent on footing the bill for people without insurance.

 *   If you are self-employed or work for a small employer, you will have more choices for buying coverage.

Contrary To Conservative Claims, The Financing Measures In The House Bill Would Not Affect Small Businesses.

 *   The financing measures proposed by the House Ways and Means committee would only affect household that make over $350,000 a year and individuals who make over $280,000 a year.<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=24260&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC>

 *   Since the overwhelming majority of small business owners earn far less than $280,000<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=24261&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC>, few would be affected by the tax.

 *   As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out, "only 1.9 percent of filers with any small-business income<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=24262&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC> are projected to face either of the top two income tax rates in 2009."

 *   In fact, the House financing measures are a sound means of doing something that conservatives failed to do when they were in charge: exercise fiscal responsibility and find ways to pay for their priorities.
    *   Bush's tax cuts accounted for 42 percent of the deficit between 2001 and 2008<http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=24263&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC>.
    *   When Bush took office, the national debt was $5.73 trillion. When Bush left office, the national debt was $10.7 trillion - approximately $35,000 for every man, woman, and child in America. <http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=24264&elq=2C2DCB871B7A4B40B9CEA0BCE59A63DC>

For more information, contact:
Adam Jentleson, 202.682.1611
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

Center for American Progress Action Fund | 1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor | Washington, DC 20005

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