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| Pro-Vote's Media Center |
| Take Action! Contact your local media and make a difference by writing a Letter to the Editor (LTE) |
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| Write an LTE on: |
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1. Governor Blunt's Insure "Some of" Missouri plan |
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2. President Bush's Veto of SCHIP |
On January 15, Governor Blunt gave is State of the State address formally announcing his upside-down priorities for the year. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper and get your voice heard! Read the report on Insure "Some of" Missouri and get your LTE started today!
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1. Talking Points on Insure "Some of" Missouri |
1. We want real healthcare solutions that guarantee access to quality, affordable health coverage for all Missourians, and Insure "Some of" Missouri" does not.
2. Insure "Some of" Missouri only covers 1/2 of the more than 100,000 Missourians who lost coverage due to Governor Blunt's Medicaid Cuts
3. Fewer services are offered or not covered. Excluded from the state's health care plans include dental, vision, hearing aids, batteries, and women's health services.
4. We expect Governor Blunt to go beyond restoration of the 2005 Medicaid cuts and address the more than 770,000 Missourians without health insurance. |
Background on Insure "Some of" Missouri:
In 2005, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt pushed through large cuts in the state’s Medicaid program, forcing more than 100,000 Missourians off of Medicaid and cutting services for another 300,000. In 2007, with great fanfare, the governor unveiled his proposal to provide coverage to uninsured Missourians, called “Insure Missouri.” He claims that tens of thousands
of Missourians could be enrolled in the new plan by July of 2008. Families USA has reviewed the Insure Missouri proposal and has identifi ed it is deficienct:
Unfortunately, the governor’s plan is, in many ways, too little, too late. His plan to “expand” coverage through Insure Missouri only just begins to undo the damage caused by his earlier, massive Medicaid cuts. Insure Missouri would not restore coverage toall of those who lost coverage in 2005, and it would cover too few of the state’s uninsured. |
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2. Talking Points on President Bush's Veto of SCHIP |
1. Currently, more than 120,000 children lack health insurance in Missouri because of Gov. Matt Blunt’s health care cuts.
2. The modest $35 billion in SCHIP funding would have covered 56% of the 120,000 uninsured children (67,200 kids!) in Missouri.
3. President Bush’s veto of the bipartisan plan to renew and expand SCHIP funding shows how his priorities are upside-down. Bush has spent half a trillion dollars on the Iraq War, cut taxes for the wealthy, and refused to provide children’s health care.
4. The money spent each week waging war in Iraq could have provided a year’s worth of health care for 400,000 kids.
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How do I write a Letter to the Editor?
1. Be brief. There is a lot of competition for a small amount of space.
2. Respond Quickly. Newspapers only print LTE's that immediately respond to an issue.
3. Include your home & work phone number along with your address at the end of the LTE. Many papers won’t print letters unless they can call the author to verify that he or she wrote it.
For more LTE tips, click here.
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