English in Touchard

Write a formal letter to a Member of Congress to express your support or opposition to health care reform. Use what you have learned in the previous tasks and activities, and :

·        Introduce your character (choose one in the presentations below)

·        Use elements from your character’s life story to support his/her choice

·        Take a clear stand and give reasons (use comparisons).

·        Say what action you may take next (voting or not voting for them, organising your neighbours, etc.)

Dorothea, 24                                                                                                                             

Single, no children

Annual income : $14 000

Uninsured

In good health

Until last year, covered by her parents’ insurance plan

Not eligible for Medicaid

Under the new plan :

Medicaid for those earning under $16 000

Could benefit from her parents’ plan until age 26

Tom, 42

Single, no children

Annual income : $28 000

Self-employed

Pre-existing condition : heart disease

Uninsured

Can’t afford insurance because premiums are very high

for people with pre-existing conditions

Under the new plan :

Higher premiums for people with “pre-existing conditions” prohibited

Could buy insurance at an exchange

Sherry and Matt : 34 and 36

Annual income : $70 000

Two children, aged 2 and 4

Sherry : hypertension

The couple pays up to $15 000 a year for medical care

Under the new plan :

Higher premiums for bad health prohibited or limited

Children automatically covered

Scarlett, 35

Two children aged 5 and 8

Annual income : $38 000

Healthy

Uninsured

Employed in a small business that doesn’t offer insurance

Private insurance too expensive

Not eligible for Medicaid or Children Health Insurance program

Under the new plan :

Buy insurance from an exchange

Apply for a “hardship waiver” as a single mother to reduce cost



You will find valuable material on the topic at the following addresses :

-         the “Pirates of the Health Care-Ibbean” video from www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients

-         the trailer of Micheal’s Moore film “Sicko” at http://sickothemovie.com/dvd/trailer.html

-         an interactive timeline about health care reforms from www.nytimes.com type “a history of health care reform”

Good luck!