Subject: URGENT: Act Now to Save PWAs from Callous Disregard by Cong. Leadership
From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 1995 17:22:36 -0500

_________________________________________________________________
***URGENT***

Action Alert from the
Human Rights Campaign

1101 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
email:  [email-masked]
WWW:    http://www.hrcusa.org
_________________________________________________________________

Action Alert

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November, 1995

                ACT NOW TO SAVE PEOPLE WITH AIDS
       FROM CALLOUS DISREGARD BY CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP

       Urge Congress to Restore Medicaid, Move Ryan White CARE Act
       Through HRC's Online Action Center (http://www.hrcusa.org)

People living with AIDS face new threats from Republican
congressional leadership, which has turned its budget axe on
Medicaid and stalled action on the Ryan White CARE Act --
demonstrating a callous disregard for the men, women, and
children affected by this epidemic.

Medicaid is the federal effort that makes health care available
to 36 million low-income Americans.  Nearly half of all Americans
living with HIV and AIDS are served by Medicaid -- including more
than 90 percent of children with the disease.  The proposed
dismantling of Medicaid is part of the Budget Reconciliation Act
recently passed by Congress, which President Clinton has promised
to veto. The expected veto would send the bill back to Capitol
Hill to be reworked.  You need to urge your representative and
senators to restore Medicaid's guaranteed coverage for poor and
disabled Americans after the bill is vetoed.

The Budget Reconciliation Act as passed by the Congress would
dismantle Medicaid and put millions of people's health at risk
by:

     Eliminating guaranteed health coverage for all eligible
     Americans.  Currently, Americans who meet the program's
     eligibility guidelines get the coverage they need for
     life-saving medical care.  The Budget Reconciliation Act
     would end that guarantee, denying health care to the
     millions of Americans who need it most.

     Slashing $182 billion from Medicaid over the next seven
     years.
     Making states responsible for providing health care for the
     poor, while cutting the funds they need to do it.

     Cutting funding levels while the number of people who need
     AIDS care continues to rise.

     Raising the cost to taxpayers while lowering the quality of
     care, since millions of Americans would be forced to turn to
     expensive emergency rooms when they lose health coverage.

In addition, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) has stalled the
Ryan White CARE Act by failing to appoint House conferees to the
House-Senate conference committee that will hammer out the final
version of the bill. The Ryan White CARE Act, which enables local
communities to provide vital medical services to men, women, and
children with AIDS, passed the Senate earlier this year by a vote
of 97 to 3, and passed the House by a voice vote.

Your voice is crucial as the Human Rights Campaign works with our
coalition partners to defeat these threats to the health of
low-income and disabled Americans in general, and men, women, and
children with AIDS in particular.  Denying health care to the
most vulnerable Americans to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy is
not the responsible way to balance the budget. 

You Can Help -- If You Act Now

1.   Urge your senators and representative to restore Medicaid's
     guaranteed health coverage for poor and disabled Americans
     once the Budget Reconciliation Act is vetoed.  Contact them
     through the Human Rights Campaign's World Wide Web site at
     http://www.hrcusa.org.  You can also call them through the
     Capitol switchboard, even if you aren't sure who they are.
     Just ask the switchboard operator and you will be connected.

     Ask for their fax numbers and e-mail addresses as well:
     
     Call:     U.S. Capitol
          (202) 224-3121
     Write:    The Honorable _________
          U.S. Senate
          Washington, DC 20510
     or   The Honorable _________
          U.S. House of Representatives
          Washington, DC 20515
     
2.   Urge House Speaker Newt Gingrich to move the Ryan White CARE
     Act by appointing House lawmakers to the conference
     committee.  Write to Speaker Gingrich at the above address
     or contact him by:
     Phone:    202-225-4501
     Fax: 202-225-4656
     E-mail:   [email-masked]

3.   Thank President Clinton for his commitment to veto the
     Budget Reconciliation Act, emphasizing the threat it would
     pose to people with AIDS by dismantling Medicaid.  Call,
     write, e-mail, and fax the president:
     Write:    The Honorable Bill Clinton
          The White House
          Washington, DC 20500
     Phone:    (202) 456-1111
     Fax: (202) 456-2461
     E-mail:   [email-masked]

4.   Give this action alert column to your friends and ask them
     to help too.

5.   For more information, contact the Political Department of
     the Human Rights Campaign at [email-masked] or (202)
     628-4160.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national lesbian and gay
political organization, with members throughout the country,
lobbies Congress, provides campaign support, and educates the
public to secure equal rights for lesbian and gay Americans and
ensure that they can live free from discrimination at home, at
work, and in the community. To join, call (800) 777-4723.

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