Most of us get our news from TV. And a lot of us now "tune-in"
to the Internet. Opinion leaders still take the pulse of constituents
through the Opinion page of newspapers. 
Policymakers are people, too. So, they watch TV news and
peruse the Web. They also read newspapers, both hard copy
and online.
So, it's really, really, really a good idea to make your
voice heard by writing what's called a "letter to the
editor" or "LTE," to submit online to both
newspapers and TV.
LTE's oncewere exclusively submitted to newspapers, but today
we should submit to TV and newspapers via email or online
forms at the outlets' websites. You can duplicate your efforts
with mass submissions to traditional and new media outlets
(including blogs). 
It's pretty easy...
- Watch/hear/read a health care reform or health care justice
news story;
- Respond—via a phone call, an email, or a fax—that
includes: A) “thanks” for reporting on this
important issue and B) gives a personal comment of what
you liked or didn't like.
The following links give more details about:
DON'T WAIT for outlet to cover an angle about our issue you
think is important. Be proactive! Write & submit an LTE
whenever the mood strikes you. If the mood strikes often,
you won't be able to get all your good letters published under
your name, so give the letters to friends to submit—or
send extras to THCC.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Let THCC know when you get published! Send
us your published LTE. And, send
a copy to your elected officals.
TELL IT. SELL IT.
The new health reform law is about American values.
These values are:
- Accountability & Trust
- Choice/Control
- Individual & Shared Responsibility
- Fairness
- Peace of Mind (Security)
| Reform
Messages that WORK!
Copy and paste these tested PRO-ACTIVE messages to write
letters to the editor (LTE), post to blogs, and when
giving presentations. |
1) Want to direct you message to
independent and mixed audiences (supporters and undecided)?
Lead with this message that evokes Trust & Fairness:
Reform requires that Members of Congress get
their healthcare coverage from the same plans as millions
of Americans. It will also make healthcare coverage
more secure by ensuring that working families cannot
be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition,
or lose their coverage or be forced into bankruptcy
when someone gets sick. |
| 2) Direct this message to seniors,
who want Peace of Mind.
The new health reform law requires that Members
of Congress get their healthcare coverage from the same
plans as millions of Americans. If it is good enough for
members of Congress and their families, it will be good
enough for average Americans. The plan will also reduce
prescription drug costs for seniors by closing the current
coverage gap in Medicare and will give seniors free yearly
check-ups. |
3) Everyone wants Fairness
& Security
The new health care law will make healthcare
coverage more secure by requiring insurance companies
to cover people with pre-existing conditions and banning
them from dropping coverage when someone gets sick.
It will also increase competition on insurance companies
to help lower costs, and will prohibit insurance companies
from charging women more than men for the same coverage. |
4) Fairness & Peace of
Mind
The new health care law will improve healthcare
for women and children by prohibiting insurers from
charging women more than men for the same coverage and
requiring coverage for maternity care. It will also
require insurance companies to cover any child with
a pre-existing condition and allow children to stay
on their parents insurance until they are 26. |
5) Peace of Mind
The new health care law lowers the costs of
prescription drugs for seniors by closing the coverage
gap in Medicare, cuts waste from the system to ensure
that Medicare funds go to improving care, and provides
for annual check-ups so seniors can have better preventive
care. |
6) Accountability
Insurance companies spent over five hundred
million dollars opposing healthcare reform because they
knew it would hold them accountable. Reform will require
insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing
conditions, ban them from dropping coverage for people
who get sick, crack down on their unjustified premium
hikes, and increase competition among them to help lower
costs. |
|
Messages
that WORK!
RESPOND TO ATTACKS WITH THESE POINTS |
Best responses to
claim that reform will increase premiums:
- Reform will help lower the costs of premiums
by creating new competitive markets that will increase
competition among insurance companies.
- Insurance companies have been increasing
premiums for the past thirty years in pursuit of bigger
profits. Reform will finally bring light to unjustified
premium hikes and help drive them down.
|
Best response(s) to claim that reform represents
a government takeover:
-
For years, insurance
company bureaucrats decided if treatments recommended
by doctors would be covered. Reform will ensure
that insurance company bureaucrats can no longer
come between you and your doctor.
-
Reform holds insurance
companies accountable by providing fair rules
and setting high standards. That’s not a
government takeover, that’s government doing
what it is supposed to do—working on behalf
of citizens.
|
Best response to claim that reform will cost jobs:
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Best response to
claim that reform should be repealed and replaced:
- The public believes we should give reform
a chance and make changes that improve it. Those who
support repeal are siding with insurance companies
who want to continue their practices of premium hikes
and denied coverage.
|
|
Best response to
attack on individual mandate:
- Just as requiring all Americans to have
car insurance protects other drivers, requiring everyone
to have health insurance protects taxpayers by ensuring
that everyone pays their fair share.
|
Best response to claim that reform will increase
the deficit:
-
The independent organization
in charge of predicting the cost of federal legislation
estimates that by slowing the growth in healthcare
costs and cutting waste from the current system,
reform will reduce the deficit by over one hundred
billion dollars in the first ten years, and by over
a trillion dollars in the next twenty years.
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