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CIVIL RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS TURN TO SENATE FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION ON HISTORIC HEALTH REFORM ‘FIX-IT’ BILL

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FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

March 24, 2010                

 

CONTACT:     

Vanesa Ramirez, vramirez@rabengroup.com , (213) 236-3751

Estuardo Rodriguez estuardo@rabengroup.com , (202) 631-2892

Lizette Olmos, ljolmos@lulac.org,  (202) 365-4553

 

CIVIL RIGHTS AND ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS TURN TO SENATE FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION ON HISTORIC HEALTH REFORM ‘FIX-IT’ BILL

Latino leaders sent a letter today to the Senate urging a “no” vote on any amendments and to move quickly to vote “yes” for the reconciliation health care bill

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) and Latinos United for Healthcare (LUH), a coalition of national Latino civil rights and advocacy organizations, national and community leaders sent a letter to the full Senate today. (See Attached)  The letter urges Senators to vote for the passage of H.R. 4872, the Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 and oppose any points of order or amendments that would derail it. 

 

“While no compromise is perfect, the Latino community won important improvements in the reconciliation bill, including more help for lower-income Latinos to purchase health insurance and added resources for Puerto Rico so that more of its residents will have access to healthcare,” stated Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez, Chair of NHLA and President of Hispanic Federation. “Today we look to the Senate to complete the work on healthcare reform, vote against any amendments that would delay the process and pass H.R. 4872.”

 

H.R. 4872 includes the following key improvements to H.R. 3590:

  • More generous affordability credits that put health coverage within reach for low-income citizen and immigrant families who purchase insurance through an exchange.
  • $6.3 billion in new Medicaid funding for the territories as well as new flexibility for Puerto Rico to determine how best to use this funding to expand coverage and improve services.
  • Authorization for Puerto Rico to establish a Health Care Exchange and $1 billion for subsidies to individuals and families of modest means who participate in the exchange. 

 

“This week we have witnessed the realization of Senator Ted Kennedy’s dream, healthcare reform which is inclusive of all Americans,” stated Brent Wilkes, Executive Director, LULAC. “We are one step away from making the necessary improvements to the newly enacted law and we cannot afford to get further caught up in partisan gamesmanship which only put the health and well-being of hardworking Americans at risk. The Senate must move forward and pass H.R. 4872 immediately.”

 

“There is much at stake for Latinos in healthcare reform and our families in every state and every city across the nation are counting on it,”  said Dr. Jaime Torres, President of Latinos for National Health Insurance. “Senators need to stay focused and get the job done.  This means voting down any amendments or procedural roadblocks that are intended to do nothing less than delay the health care that our community so desperately needs.”

 

Established in 1991, The National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) brings together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of the major issues affecting the Latino community and the nation as a whole. For more information, please visit www.nationalhispanicleadership.org .

 

Latinos United for Healthcare (LUH) is a nonpartisan coalition of national, state and local Hispanic leaders and organizations that support the passage of significant healthcare reform that increases access to affordable, quality health coverage for all. For further information, please visit www.latinosunitedforhealthcare.org .

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