Archive for the 'Debra Ness' Category

Historic Milestone Reached! Bill Needs Improvement…

Published on December 24, 2009 in Debra Ness, Health Care, Reform and Reproductive Health. 1 Comment
Debra Ness

Debra Ness

Today, the Senate took a historic step to fix our nation’s broken health care system by passing comprehensive reform that will cover 31 million more people, prohibit insurance practices that undermine meaningful, affordable coverage, help contain costs, and put us on track to improve the quality and coordination of care.

But this flawed bill must be improved. The anti-choice provisions in the Senate and House bills are bad and worse, and represent a step the nation simply should not take.

It is a sad day when the price of reform is undermining access to a basic health service that America’s women need.

Those of us who spend our lives working to improve women’s health have been deeply shaken as lawmakers allowed reproductive health services to become a political bargaining chip, and as opponents of choice used reform to advance their extreme agenda.

Both the Senate and House bills contain anti-choice provisions that betray the promise of reform for women and would, in practical terms, cost millions of women coverage for basic reproductive health care. This should not stand.

We will work tirelessly to improve the final bill, including by urging conferees to provide more support to the low- and moderate-income families that will now have to purchase coverage.

We must strengthen the final bill by maintaining strong delivery and payment reforms, ensuring greater affordability and meaningful benefits, and guaranteeing effective market reforms that prohibit the discriminatory practices that have put affordable, quality health coverage out of reach for millions of women and families.

We see today’s vote, and the eventual enactment of this bill, as a beginning rather than an end.

The true test of reform’s success will depend on whether it delivers on the promise to expand access to high quality, affordable care; dramatically improves quality and care coordination; gives us better value for our health dollars; and puts us on track to get costs under control. We see implementation as key, and making our health care system work for the most vulnerable patients is essential.

And we look forward to the day when women’s health is no longer bargained away.

Our elected leaders’ work will not be done until those goals are achieved. And we will count on you to stand by our side.

It’s a resolution for the new year that we must all keep!

Health Care Reform Matters to Older Women

Published on December 7, 2009 in Campaign for Better Care, Debra Ness, Health Care and Reform. 0 Comments
Debra Ness

Debra Ness

Let’s be clear. As both caregivers and patients, women bear the brunt of shortcomings in our health care system – high costs, poor quality, and fragmented, uncoordinated care. 

That’s because women are the primary users of health care, and we continue to use more health services as we age.

It’s also because, in most cases, we are primary caregivers for our families.  We coordinate care for our spouses, parents and children, and often, at great cost to ourselves, we fill in the gaps when the system fails and care is poor quality or uncoordinated.

With the finish line in sight on health reform, everyone needs to take a close look at what the House and Senate bills will do, not only to expand coverage and contain costs but also to improve the way care is delivered.  We should look particularly closely at whether these bills will provide higher quality care for older women, who are more than half of Medicare beneficiaries and 70 percent of those aged 85 and older.

The good news is that the House and Senate bills both contain a number of measures that will improve the way we pay for and deliver health care.  These quality improvement measures are vital to preserving and protecting programs like Medicare for the long term, and containing costs and improving efficiencies overall.

For example, both bills move us toward a system that links payment to better quality and better coordinated care.  This means we can start paying for health care based on value and better health outcomes, rather than paying based on the number of services or tests performed. This is good news for anyone who has a loved one struggling with illness or health problems. People who navigate the health system know that their loved one needs the right test or treatment at the right time – not an abundance of repeat or erroneous services that don’t provide answers or make them better.

Earlier this year, we talked to caregivers around the country about their concerns with our health care system.  Poor care coordination and a lack of communication among doctors were foremost on their minds.  That’s because they’ve seen first-hand how these problems lead to dangers and waste from bad drug interactions, repeat tests, misdiagnoses, and more.

Both the Senate and House bills also introduce new models of delivering health care that are specifically designed to improve coordination and reduce events like preventable hospitalizations and readmissions, which are all too common now.

Because passing legislation only begins the work to fix our broken health care system, these bills allow us to test new models over time so we can find out what works best and continuously build on our success.

Recently a distinguished group of consumer advocates, economists and analysts issued a letter praising the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for its payment and delivery reforms.  I was proud to coordinate and sign that letter.

Older women have a huge stake in turning our health care system around, and ensuring that it serves them and other vulnerable populations better.  If we can make the system work for them, we can make it work for everyone.

We’re closer than ever to the reforms we need, but victory is not assured.  We need to be certain the final legislation includes the key provisions that will improve care coordination and put patients first.  

Balancing the need for change with ensuring that we do change right is the key to sustainable reform.  As the Senate debates the specifics of reform, we must all fight for policies that will provide higher quality, better coordinated, and more affordable care for everyone.

A Historic Moment…But at Women’s Expense

Published on November 10, 2009 in Debra Ness, Health Care and Reproductive Health. 0 Comments
Debra Ness

Debra Ness

The health reform bill the House passed this weekend had some long-overdue advances — and an eleventh hour amendment so appalling it taints the entire bill.

The U.S. House of Representatives brought the nation one huge step closer to giving all Americans access to high quality, affordable care. We’ve been fighting for decades to get here, and it was an historic moment.

But the outrageous, reckless, and unnecessary restriction on abortion coverage — added at the eleventh hour by opponents of women’s right to choose — threatens to undermine the promise of reform and endanger women’s health and lives. It simply must not stand.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) includes some real advances.   This bill’s greatest strengths include ending gender rating, limiting age rating and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of pre-existing conditions.  It is long past time for these disgraceful practices to end.  We are pleased that H.R. 3962 would extend these new federal rating rules to all individual and fully insured group markets.

The House bill also covers maternity care, well-woman and well-child visits, and cancer screening — and it includes no-cost language to let states expand access to Medicaid-covered family planning services without a cumbersome waiver process.�

We also applaud the provisions that will help lower-income families with the new obligation to buy health insurance, and support the expansion of the Medicaid national ‘floor’ to 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. But more must be done to ensure that affordable coverage is within reach for low- and moderate-income families.

But the inclusion of the Stupak-Pitts anti-choice amendment utterly taints this bill. Unless that amendment is removed, the promise of reform will ring hollow for women who will lose coverage for essential reproductive health care that we now have.

This is a historic opportunity that lawmakers must not squander by capitulating to the anti-choice extremists who would deny women coverage for basic reproductive health care.

President Obama has spoken. This is your moment!

Published on September 10, 2009 in Debra Ness and Health Care. 0 Comments
Debra Ness

Debra Ness

President Obama delivered a powerful and passionate speech on health insurance reform.

It was a resounding call to get it done right, and get it done right now.  

It is safe to say the silly season is officially over.

America’s families are counting on lawmakers to fix our broken health care system this year. And their need for reform is urgent and indisputable. 

The vast majority of Americans — including patients, providers, and caregivers — recognize that the status quo is unsustainable and unacceptable. 

Thousands of National Partnership supporters like you and millions of people nationwide have spoken out because they know we need meaningful reform that makes quality, affordable care a reality.

The cost of inaction to women and families across the country is too great.  

The President called for urgently-needed reforms to the insurance market so that people can count on their health care benefits when they need them the most, regardless of their age, gender, or a pre-existing condition. He also recognized the need to transform our current system into a pay-for-value rather than a pay-for-volume system in order to finally deliver comprehensive, coordinated and quality health care.

The public is counting on Congress to pass a health insurance reform package this year that will finally give them stability and security when it comes to their health and the health of their loved ones. 

And, despite a vocal minority intent on playing politics with health care, we are closer than ever before to reform that lowers costs, guarantees coverage, and provides more choice for all Americans.

Now is the time to answer the President’s call by putting politics aside and working towards a goal we all share — healthy futures for America’s families. 

There is more momentum now than ever to make it happen.

I encourage you to take action today —and demand that Congress get it done right … and get it done right NOW!

Life and Legacy of Ted Kennedy

Published on August 28, 2009 in Debra Ness, Health Care and Work & Family. 8 Comments
Debra Ness

Debra Ness

Here at the National Partnership, we are grieving the loss of our good friend and supporter Ted Kennedy.

Tomorrow, we join you in celebrating his life and legacy.

I had the privilege of working closely with Senator Kennedy for many years, and feel his absence keenly. The public outcry of grief and remembrance is both touching and fitting for his incredible service to our nation.

Senator Kennedy’s legislative legacy will never be rivaled, and yet it saddens me that the public policy closest to his heart, which he called the ‘cause of his life,’ was not finished before he left us.

So in this time of sadness and reflection, I encourage you to take a moment and recommit yourself to fighting for meaningful health insurance reform, one of the most important legislative challenges of our time.

You can start by sharing your story. We all have one.

Do you think we need health insurance reform, or is the status quo okay? What changes are needed to help you or your family? Are you happy with your existing insurance plan? Do you know friends or neighbors without coverage? Has the health care system failed you or a loved one?

Senator Kennedy shared his story with us during decades of public service, and I believe the greatest tribute we can pay him is to redouble our efforts to see his vision for universal health care become reality.

It’s a worthy ambition, so roll up your sleeves. You won’t regret it.

Share your story today.

Huge Loss for the Nation

Published on August 26, 2009 in Debra Ness, General, Health Care and Work & Family. 1 Comment
Debra Ness

Debra Ness

When Senator Edward M. Kennedy lost his battle with cancer, our nation lost a real champion of justice and equality, a man who truly understood the struggles of families in the United States, and a passionate, effective and tireless advocate for women’s and civil rights. At the National Partnership for Women & Families, we also lost a dear friend.

Senator Kennedy’s death marks the end of an era, when we could count on his vision and leadership to make this country a greater place for everyone. He was a partner we trusted completely to provide strategic guidance on a range of issues including health care reform, reproductive choice, paid sick days, women’s and civil rights, and other issues that are critically important to the nation. Not as well known as the Senator’s public positions were his keen political and strategic judgment, and his extraordinary capacity to bring together opposing parties to reach the agreements the country needed. Those were skills we treasured, and will miss terribly.

We also remember Senator Kennedy as a friend – someone who hosted events for the National Partnership in his home, who took the time to write a personal note if a family member was ill, and to call to say thank you when a bill we championed advanced.

Our work will be more difficult without Senator Kennedy’s presence and support, and our country will be much poorer without his leadership. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones, who suffered the loss of his sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, so recently.

Senator Edward Kennedy was, in every way, a great leader. The greatest tribute we can pay him is to redouble our efforts to make his vision – of a nation in which every person has access to quality affordable health care, discrimination is no longer a problem, workplaces are family-friendly, and reproductive choices are secure – a reality.

A Proud Moment

Published on August 6, 2009 in Debra Ness and Judges & Supreme Court. 0 Comments
blog.photo.debra.ness

Debra Ness

I am thrilled that the Senate has confirmed the first Latina — and the third woman — to serve on the Supreme Court.

Sonia Sotomayor will be a superb Justice and an inspirational figure for generations to come.

She has a demonstrated commitment to equal justice and privacy rights, outstanding qualifications and vast and impressive judicial experience — and she will bring welcome diversity to our nation’s highest court.

I want to thank every Senator who voted to confirm Justice Sotomayor and President Obama for appointing her.

This is a proud moment for our nation.