This flyer prepared for Durham for Obama Health Care Group 2009 This month your Senators and Representatives (below) will be home and they need to know where you stand. Call and tell them: I want you to support health care reform that guarantees quality, affordable health care for everyone. I want a choice—to be able to keep my private insurance, or join a robust and honest national public health insurance plan option based on a family’s ability to pay. I want rules to regulate the insurance industry so that health coverage would actually be there when I need it. What you can do: Shocking Truths about Health Care in America Did you know… Medicare is a single payer health care insurance system, like the one in Canada. That means that one source -- in this case, the US government -- pays for the health care you get, if you are 65 years of age or older, from doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers. Like private insurance companies, Medicare decides what it will pay for, but not what health care providers you can see or what care you get. The health care that veterans get is what some people are calling ‘socialized medicine,’ like the system in England. In this case, the government pays for and delivers health care to veterans at VA facilities. In terms of delivery, the VA is like Kaiser Permanente and other HMOs (health maintenance organization). You can only get health care that is paid for by going to a facility that is owned and run by the HMO. Employer-funded health care plans are currently subsidized and regulated by the government. The IRS exempts employer contributions for health care from income tax as long as these contributions are made for all employees, not just executives. ***** These are all examples of how the federal government supports health care for Americans right now. Others include: Community Health Centers, health care for military personnel, Medicaid, the FDA, and the National Institutes of Health. President Obama’s health care plan is NOT a government takeover of health care. It’s a government effort to make sure no one in America, no matter how rich or poor, old or young, sick or healthy, or where they live, is left without access to the health care they need at a price they can afford. Imagine how many people in America would have no access to health care if the government was not already in the health care business! Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC): 701 Green Valley Road Suite 201, Greensboro, NC 27408, Phone: (336) ; 310 New Bern Ave., Raleigh, 27601, Phone: (919) ; Washington D.C. Phone: (202) Senator Richard Burr (R-NC): 2000 West First Street Suite 508, Winston-Salem, NC 27104, Phone: (336) or (800) ; Washington D.C. Phone: (202) Representative David Price (D-NC, 4th district): NC Mutual Building, 411 W. Chapel Hill Street, 9th Floor, Durham, NC 27701, Phone: (919) ; Washington D.C. Phone: (202)

Insurance companies say it is because they worry that they will have to settle for lower profits if they have to insure everybody – not just healthy people – and compete with the new public insurance option. Drug companies and some hospitals say it is because they will also have to settle for lower profits if the new public insurance plan has the right to negotiate fair prices. [Right now retail drug prices are 77% higher in the US than in other countries – for the same drugs!] Some employers who don’t offer health insurance coverage think it is because they don’t believe they have a responsibility to assure the well-being of their employees. “To the extent we have a working health care system at all right now, it’s only because the government covers the elderly, while a combination of regulation and tax subsidies makes it possible for many… nonelderly Americans to get decent private coverage.” - Paul Krugman, New York Times oTry out new ways of reimbursing hospitals and doctors that emphasize quality of care and that reward primary care doctors for doing a good job of managing your care. oSimplify the paperwork so that doctors, hospitals and patients need to spend less time on paperwork, leaving more time for patient care. Make sure no one loses health care if they lose their job. oThe public insurance plan established through the new law will provide an affordable, quality back up for anyone who loses private insurance for any reason. The legislation Congress will vote on proposes to: Improve the health care available to all of us. The new law will: oSet a standard for what a good health insurance plan should cover and require private insurers to meet that standard. This new standard will include preventive services (like routine mammograms) with no co-pays, mental health services, and oral health and vision services for children. It also will extend the age of children covered in family policies from 22 to 26 years, giving young adults time to get established before they are responsible for their own health care. oProtect our ability to get and keep affordable health insurance. Insurers will no longer be able to: refuse coverage due to pre-existing conditions, charge more based on gender or health status, or limit the amount of coverage you can get in a year or a lifetime. Insurers will have to renew policies as long as they are paid up and will not be able to charge more than 10% of income for out-of-pocket expenses per year. Make sure that no one has to go without health care because they can’t afford it. The new law will: oExpand eligibility for a better Medicaid that offers higher reimbursement rates for providers. oProvide sliding-scale ‘affordability credits’ to low and middle income individuals and families to help cover the cost of both insurance and out-of-pocket expenses. oGet rid of the donut-hole in Medicare prescription drug benefits. oOffer tax credits to small businesses to encourage them to provide health coverage to their workers. Bring down costs of health care for everyone. The new law will: oSet up a new Medicare-like public insurance plan that has the ability to negotiate fair prices with drug companies, hospitals and doctors. Does this sound like a government takeover of health care?