Betsy's amazing news!

[Guest guest]

Amazing news!!!!

Makes breaking this small bit of bad news easier.

www.lymphomation.org is down. No explanation, just that the

engineers are working on it. Conspiracy? They say it will be up

shortly, but so far it's taking longer than first predicted.

My email is out too, so I can only communicate via web forums, this

and webmagic. It's only affecting my domain, which contains my mail

server, but not my web access. Oy!

But to the part of the BIG NEWS copied below, we can't use

lymphomation resources to continue our effort until it's back up.

~ Karl

WASHINGTON HAS LISTENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Senator Debbie Stabenow, the great Senator from the (my!) great state

of Michigan, is our new hero and best friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her office

called to let me know that Senator Stabenow will lead the way in

getting language inserted into the bill that will hold the 2007 rates

during 2008. And yes, her office agreed that I may say this publicly.

This is a HUGE breakthrough. - I'm so excited I can hardly stand

it!!!!! Our voices are indeed being heard and it's really

heartwarming to see government " of the people, by the people, and FOR

the people " in action. You can all be proud that your voices helped

to win this victory. Not one person, nor two, nor three could have

done it. This was a collective effort by all – so take a minute,

smile, and pat yourselves on the back!!!

We're haven't reached the finish line, but we finally have a leader

who can really make a difference. I don't know much about how these

things work, but it seems logical that Senator Stabenow's job, as she

enlists the support of her colleagues, will be easier if other

senators know how their constituents feel – so let's keep the calls

and messages going.

Below is the letter you can cut and paste. Be sure to change whether

you are a patient, caregiver, friend (or whatever) in the first

sentence, and add your name at the end.

Below the letter is the list of the Finance Committee members who are

the ones who can insert the language we need into a bill – making

them key people who need to hear from us. Below their names are their

phone numbers, the names of the assistants who handle CMS issues, and

the link to the contact form on each senator's website. You can cut

and paste the letter into contact form. If you are from any of these

states, please make sure they hear from you.

Those of you who live in other states can look up your senators at:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

We will need a majority vote so your senators are just as important!

Karl has a good, short script for calling on the website if you want

to call, too. See www.lymphomation.org

Thank you all again for your support. Let's just keep make sure that

our collective voices continue to be heard, so please write or call

if you haven't already….

Hugs to all and keep the faith…looks like we're winning!

Betsy

=========================================

Dear Senator,

I am a patient with lymphoma (or caregiver, or friend, or loved one

of a person diagnosed with lymphoma).

I am contacting you regarding a ruling that will have a devastating

effect on the survival of patients with lymphomas. The ruling is

contained in CMS-1392-FC as it relates to Bexxar and Zevalin.

It is now obvious that CMS erred in its method and classification

when it set the rates for these drugs, and that if the ruling is

allowed to take effect on January 1, that patients will lose an

invaluable treatment option.

I urge you to restore the reimbursement rates for 2007 during 2008 in

order to give patients continued access to these much needed drugs

and to allow CMS the time to collect fair and accurate data on which

to sets the rates for 2009.

I – and the patients who needs these drugs, now and in the future –

urge you to act swiftly, before this ruling takes effect on January

1, 2008.

Respectfully,

==============

Majority Members

Max Baucus (D-MT)

Wynne: 202-224-2515

Website contact form: http://baucus.senate.gov/contact/emailForm.cfm?

subj=issue

D. " Jay " Rockerfeller IV (D-WV)

Jocelyn : 202-224-6472

Website contact form: http://rockefeller.senate.gov/services/email.cfm

Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Lindsey Henjum: 202-224-2043

Website Contact form:https://conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)

Frederick Isasi: 202-224-5521

Website Contact Form: http://bingaman.senate.gov/contact/types/email-

issue.cfm

F. Kerry (D-MA)

Dawe: 202-224-2742

Website Contact Form: http://kerry.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)

Ridlon: 202-224-4843

Website Contact Form: http://lincoln.senate.gov/webform.html

Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Tapay: 202-224-5244

Website Contact Form: http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Meghan Taira: 202-224-6542

Website Contact Form: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/webreturn/?

url=http://schumer.senate.gov

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Oliver Kim: 202-224-4822

Website Contact Form: http://stabenow.senate.gov/email.cfm

Cantwell (D-WA)

Dale Chung: 202-224-3441

Website Contact FormL http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/

Ken Salazar (D-CO)

Piper Su: 202-224-5852

Website Contact Form: http://salazar.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Minority Members

Orrin Hatch ( R-UT)

Pattie L. DeLoatche : 202-224-6306

Website Contact Form: http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?

FuseAction=Offices.Contact

Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME)

Bill Pewen: 202-224-5344

Website Contact Form: http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?

FuseAction=ContactSenatorSnowe.Email

Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

romans: 202-224-4521

Website Contact Form: http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Gordon H. (R-OR)

: 202-228-5862

Website Contact Form: http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?

FuseAction=Contact.Home

Jim Bunning (R-KY)

Holly Santry: 202-224-4343

Website contact form http://bunning.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?

FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Mike Crapo (R-ID)

Oppenheim: 202-224-6142

Website contact form: http://crapo.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Pat (R-KS)

Swenson: 202-224-4774

Website contact form: http://roberts.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?

FuseAction=ContactInformation.EmailPat

Ensign (R-NV)

Shaw: 202-224-6244

Website Contact Form: http://ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm