Advocacy Alert: Oppose Tax Reform November 27, 2017 by Chelsey Fix Advocacy Alert: Your Action Needed Tell your Members of Congress to oppose tax reform provisions that harm individuals and families facing rare or chronic medical conditions Take Action Now Congress is currently working on a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. tax code. The House has already passed a measure and the Senate hopes to consider its proposal early in December. The goal is for both chambers to pass their own bills before going to a conference to negotiate a final proposal. At this time, both the House and Senate tax reform bills include provisions that would harm those affected by rare and/or chronic medical conditions: House Bill Eliminates the Orphan Drug Tax Credit and provides no new alternative to continue to incentivize and facilitate the development of therapies for rare diseases. Eliminates the Deduction for Medical Expenses which many patients and their families claim to help offset the costs of medical care. Senate Bill Eliminates Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate to purchase insurance and the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that this action will result in 13 million Americans losing health coverage. With fewer Americans (especially healthy individuals) buying into the insurance market, costs for insurance could drastically increase as the market becomes flooded with individuals that use health insurance frequently Drastically restructures the Orphan Drug Tax Credit to make it much less generous and applicable in a way that would drastically reduce rare disease therapy development. As Congress continues to consider tax reform, and which provisions will be included in any final measures, please contact your Senators and House Representative and ask them to oppose provisions undermining the Orphan Drug Tax Credit, the Medical Expense Deduction, and the individual mandate. How To Take Action: Visit www.senate.gov and identify the contact information for your two Senators by selecting your state. Use the contact information for the DC office, which will include a phone number starting with 202 Visit www.house.gov and identify the contact information for your House Representative by entering your zip code in the upper right corner. Call the offices and ask for the Health Legislative Assistant’s voicemail box or e-mail address. Use the script below to leave or send a message. Script for email or phone calls: Dear _______, My name is _________ and I am a constituent from [home town]. As the legislative process for tax reform continues to move forward, please oppose any provisions eliminating or diminishing the Orphan Drug Tax Credit, the Medical Expense Deduction, and the individual mandate to purchase insurance. As an advocate for patients and commonsense tax policy, the aforementioned provisions are essential to maintaining medical innovation and promoting comprehensive care. [Explain a little about your particular situation] Thank you for time and for your consideration of my request. Sincerely, [Name] [Address]
Advocacy Alert: Action Required September 20, 2017 by Chelsey Fix Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) recently introduced legislation known as Graham-Cassidy to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The hope of these lawmakers was to hold yet another vote on repeal before October 1st, so a simple majority (51 votes) is all that is needed to pass the measure. Unfortunately, the Graham-Cassidy proposal is more extreme than other recent Senate proposals and would be particularly harmful to individuals and families impacted by chronic health conditions. Specifically, the new proposal would: Allow insurance companies to charge more for those individuals with pre-existing health conditions Allow states to more easily opt out of requiring quality health insurance options and comprehensive benefits Expand the ability for individuals to purchase low quality health insurance benefits in lieu of more comprehensive coverage Eliminate the individual and employer mandates Dramatically reduce the federal commitment to Medicaid expansion Eliminate the Prevention and Public Health Fund While this effort was initially dismissed by many as a “Hail Mary,” it has quickly gained support and could be voted on next week. In order to protect patients with chronic conditions, please contact your Senators and ask them to oppose the Graham-Cassidy repeal and replace proposal. Take Action Contact the health Legislative Assistants (LAs) in the offices of your two U.S. Senators and use the message below for a voicemail or brief e-mail. The contact information for your Senate offices can be found at Senate.gov. Template For Emailing / Calling / Faxing Your Senators Dear _______, My name is _________ and I am a constituent from [home town]. On behalf of patients with chronic health conditions, I urge the Senator to oppose the Graham-Cassidy healthcare proposal. This proposal would be absolutely devastating to individuals and families affected by chronic illness that rely on access to quality, affordable health care. [Explain a little about your particular situation] Thank you for your consideration of my request. Please tell me how you have responded to my request. Sincerely, [Name] [Address]