Urgent! Health Care Reform -- Speak Out Now!!!

[Guest guest]

Whether your child has Autism or not, healthcare reform is needed, so please

take a few minutes to voice your support. We need to get the word out about the

need for healthcare reform to include the various Autism treatments (ie

Son-Rise, RDI, ABA, Bio-Medical, etc.)...our kids are not one treatment fits

all. Healthcare reform has been the life's work of many, which is sad because it

shouldn't take the bulk of someone's life time to accomplish something so vital.

Just like ADA and IDEA, this is legislation that could have a profound impact on

those with special needs. Note: Most insurance companies don't cover any Autism

treatments, though 1 in every 150 children in the US has an Autism Spectrum

Disorder. Some Autism parents mortgage or sell their houses to pay out of pocket

for treatments (as much as $65,000 a year), eventhough they already pay high

premiums for insurance. Thank God, we do the Son-Rise Program

http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/

so it doesn't cost nearly that much, but we do pay out of pocket.

I have seen this issue from various angles: as one of the uninsured (until I was

28...I now have stage 3 Kidney Disease from poor health care early in life), as

a customer service representative for a big insurance company (I left the

company because of their Enron style ridiculing of customers) and as a mom of a

daughter with Autism.

This is not a government takeover of the entire healthcare industry. If you

like your insurance, keep it. As for us, due to the pre-existing condition

clauses that keep people from qualifying for insurance, my husband can't risk

changing jobs because I would lose my coverage because of the kidney disease and

probably our daughter would lose her coverage because of her various conditions.

That's just wrong. A major overhaul of the " greed is good " healthcare industry

is needed to level the playing field for those who are getting stepped on. Yes,

I know not everybody in the healthcare industry is focused on money, but a lot

are and they're ruining it for everybody else. There have been great efforts by

some in the insurance lobby to muddy the waters with misinformation like the

" death panel " lie, which even some conservatives have debunked. We should

remember Nataline Sarkisyan [RIP] age 17

http://cbs2.com/local/nataline.sarkisyan.CIGNA.2.615167.html

had insurance, but the company played God, we must never forget the lessons

learned about unchallenged power of insurance companies. A " public option "

increasing their competition would help to keep the insurance companies honest

and lower costs. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is

directly impacted by access to healthcare. Boorish hecklers shouldn't determine

which privileged citizens get healthcare, because healthcare should be the right

of all US citizens. Please call (don't just email) your Congressional

Representatives http://www.house.gov/ & Senators http://www.senate.gov/ and

demand healthcare reform.

Note: In order to not get bogged down in misinformation that has been spread, it

should be noted that when I called a conservative congressman's office, they

said they have to educate the callers letting them know the healthcare proposals

do NOT involve covering illegal aliens, do NOT include euthanasia or death

panels, do NOT use tax dollars for abortions, etc. As to the concept of " end of

life counseling " , if a doctor told me that I was dieing and I chose to believe

him, it might be useful to have someone to talk to as I deal with some pretty

intense emotions.

So let's stay on message: Autism and our kids.

If you want to take an extra step, you can call the so-called " gang of six "

Senators who seem to have a lot of input on this issue:

, Ben - (D - NE) Class I

720 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Web Form: bennelson.senate.gov/contact-me.cfm

Landrieu, L. - (D - LA) Class II

328 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Web Form: landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Wyden, Ron - (D - OR) Class III

223 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Web Form: wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Lieberman, ph I. - (ID - CT) Class I

706 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Web Form: lieberman.senate.gov/contact/

Snowe, Olympia J. - (R - ME) Class I

154 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Web Form:

http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorSnowe.Email

, M. - (R - ME) Class II

413 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Web Form:

http://collins.senate.gov/public/continue.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenator.E\

mailIssue

Please forward this to anyone who might want to help!

Peace be with you!---