Erie Family Health Center

Beats this week:

1) President Obama is planning a bipartisan summit on health care on February 25. Making the announcement during a pre-Super Bowl interview, Obama pledged that he wanted to work with Republicans to pass health care reform but would not agree to throw out the entire health care reform bill and start over.

2) As reported by Beats Per Minute last week, the First Lady Michelle Obama is leading an initiative to fight childhood obesity. The campaign, called “Let’s Move,” was kicked off this week.

3) Meanwhile, at the state level, the Illinois General Assembly allowed Governor Pat Quinn to delay sharing the details of his budget plan until March 10.  Many social service organizations across the state are bracing for another tough Spring and Summer of budget delays.

4) With health care reform stalled, hospitals nationwide continue to struggle as billions of dollars in medical bills go unpaid.

5) A study recently released by International Communications Research found that up to $9 billion could be raised for states with a $1 per pack tax on cigarettes. This report concluded that most Americans would support this increase over other tax increases or budget cuts.

Beats this week:

1) A new study finds that community health centers fill the gaps in the health care crisis. This study coincides with the President’s 2011 budget plan, which calls for $290 million to expand a network of federally funded health centers.

2) Illinois had the first primary elections in the country on February 2. Read about the results of yesterday’s primary here.

3) “It is my greatest hope that we can get this done not just a year from now but soon. We came extremely close,” said President Obama about health care reform. So the question still exists, is health care reform still possible?

4) With the state of health care reform still unknown, legislators are taking steps at the state level to change health care coverage. In total, 11 states have health care bills aimed at improving coverage.

5) New mental health insurance coverage rules recently unveiled could improve access to critical behavioral health services. The new rules, known as The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, would decrease many barriers to care faced by patients in need of mental health services.

This is a friendly reminder that tomorrow, February 2, is voting day in Illinois! No matter who you vote for be sure to get out there and vote! The polls are open from 6:00am-7:00pm for the primaries. Here is a little voting inspiration to get you moving tomorrow:

Courtesy of RocktheVote.com

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”        –Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.” –John Quincy Adams

“The first lesson is this: take it from me, every vote counts.” –Al Gore

“It’s not the hand that signs the laws that holds the destiny of America. It’s the hand that casts the ballot.”       –Harry S. Truman

And for those of you in Chicago, here is a little Chi-town humor:

“Vote early and vote often.” –Al Capone

Like many community health center advocates around the country, I waited patiently during last night’s State of the Union speech for President Obama to discuss health care reform. All week I had heard many rumors about what would or would not be said about health care reform during this important speech. It was nearly 30 minutes and 3,000 words before I heard: “health insurance reform.” A sense of relief rushed over me: it was clear that the President was not abandoning his pledge to reform health care.

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune

Packaging health reform with a slightly different name – health insurance reform – President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to passing health care reform legislation. “Here’s what I ask Congress, though: Don’t walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people. Let’s get it done,” said Obama. The President acknowledged that even as he was speaking, more individuals would go without health insurance and that Congress needed to take action to relieve the American people. (more…)

The plot thickens around health care reform! Check out these articles that discuss where health care reform goes from here:

1) Some still believe that despite a loss of the 60 vote majority in the Senate, President Obama can still achieve health care reform. It begins with a simple suggestion: “Obama should use his authority as president to start reforming the health care system right now.”

2) Conversely, others believe that the election in Massachusetts signaled the end of health care reform for the Obama administration.

3) Other experts claim that Obama can still utilize special procedural maneuvers to advance the health care bill. The move, known as budget reconciliation, would allow the bill to move through Congress with simply vote in the Senate. Read more in the New York Times.

4) Are you still confused about the differences between the House and Senate health care reform bills? Check out this breakdown of the health care proposals.

5) The Hill offers insight on the top ten reasons that health reform stalled.

Welcome to Health Beats—the place to come every week to receive the top five health care stories of the week! Tune in to Beats Per Minute every Wednesday to read about the top five stories impacting Erie Family Health Center and our community.

Beats this week:

1) On Monday, January 18, 2010 Erie Family Health Center celebrated the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Across Chicago, many did the same, invoking King’s memory in the fight for health care reform. Read more in the Chicago Sun-Times.

2) The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force just released new guidelines on the treatment of obesity among children. Currently, over one-third of America’s children are at least overweight; these new guidelines found that with intense treatment, children were able to obtain a healthy weight.

3) Yesterday Massachusetts held a special election to fill the late Senator Kennedy’s seat. This resulted in the election of Republican Scott Brown and the loss of the Democrats’ 60^th vote in the Senate for health care reform.  So the question is: Will this election lead to the collapse of health care reform?

4) Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed a bill that would allow Illinois residents to have their denied medical claims reviewed. This bill will allow more than 3 million residents to get a second opinion on whether their claim should have been denied. Per the Chicago Tribune.

5) 2009 was a whirlwind year for community health centers across the nation. Read about how community health centers were mentioned in the White House’s ‘Year in Health Care.’ You can also read more at the National Association for Community Health Center’s blog, Health Center News and Happenings.