1er Euro - Health care reform letter
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!