May 4, 2007
ETHA ACTION
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Your Senator needs to hear from you — lives are at stake! |
Thanks to Karen Bates and the Campaign to End AIDS Issues and Action working group for this important action:
Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) recently reintroduced S. 860, the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA). The House version is expected to be introduced in the next month.
ETHA would allow states to extend Medicaid coverage to include low-income people with HIV who have not yet become disabled by AIDS. This would help people with HIV get early access to care and treatment. It would also help relieve the financial burden on other programs, such as the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
ETHA would save lives. One study shows that if passed and implemented, ETHA would reduce the death rate for people with HIV on Medicaid by 50 percent.
Now that the bill has been introduced, we need as many Senate cosponsors as possible. The more Senators that sign on (and the more bipartisan the list), the better the chance of passing this bill into law.
Please take a few minutes to call your two U.S. Senators and ask them to cosponsor ETHA!
Take action today!
Call your two U.S. Senators in their Washington, DC, office toll-free at 1-800-614-2803. You will get the Capitol Switchboard. Ask to be connected to your Senator's office.
Once you reach your Senator's office, ask to speak to the staff person who handles HIV or health care issues. Tell them you are a constituent and you urge the Senator to cosponsor S. 860, the Early Treatment for HIV Act. If your Senator is a Republican, they should contact Senator Smith's office to sign. If they are a Democrat, they should contact Senator Clinton's office.
Be personal in your conversation. Tell the office why improving access to care/treatment for people with HIV is important to you or people you care about.
You may also email your Senator from their website.
SAMPLE LETTER:
Date
The Honorable _________________
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator___________
I am writing to urge you to cosponsor S. 860, the Early Treatment for HIV Act.
ETHA, authored by Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY), would address a cruel irony in the current Medicaid system. Currently most individuals with HIV must become disabled by AIDS before they can receive access to Medicaid's care and treatment programs that could have prevented them from becoming so ill in the first place.
ETHA would modernize this system by allowing states to extend Medicaid coverage to low-income, pre-disabled people living with HIV. It would assure early access to care and treatment for thousands of people living with HIV across the country. It would also help relieve the financial crisis facing many discretionary HIV/AIDS programs, such as the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and other services funded by the Ryan White CARE Act.
(Enter personal statement here. If you or someone you care about would benefit from this bill, talk about that. Otherwise talk about the importance of access to care and treatment for people with HIV in your state.)
Your leadership on this legislation can help save lives. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Your name