URGENT ACTION NEEDED!
Stop the Senate From Sneaking Socialized Medicine into the Budget Today
Contact your Senators NOW – the vote could come any time
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The Senate is voting on amendments to the Budget Bill even as we send out this message, and there is one extremely important vote later today that could help stop socialized medicine from becoming the law of the land.
Sen. James DeMint (R-SC) has offered the “Healthcare Freedom Amendment, SA 853, that would prohibit the government from forcing you into “government-managed, rationed health care.”
WE CANNOT LET THIS OPPORTUNITY SLIP AWAY
Just yesterday, the Senate voted down an amendment from Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) that would have thrown a big roadblock in the way of any plans for government rationing through “Comparative Effectiveness Research,” or CER. That was defeated along party lines.
CALL YOUR SENATORS RIGHT NOW TELL THEM TO VOTE “YES” ON THE “HEALTH CARE FREEDOM AMENDMENT,
SA 853 ON THE BUDGET.
The lines are extremely busy, so tell the receptionist you would like to leave a message with the staff member responsible for the budget. Tell them you support the Healthcare Freedom Amendment, SA 853, because it would strip out language that would open the door to socialized medicine. Leave your name and a phone number.
CONGRESSIONAL SWITCHBOARD:
(202) 224-3121
SCROLL TO BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE TO COMMENT ON THIS AMENDMENT OR THE BUDGET
TEXT OF SEN. DeMINT’S HEALTHCARE FREEDOM AMENDMENT, SA 853:
SEC. __. POINT OF ORDER AGAINST LEGISLATION THAT DECREASES THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS ENROLLED IN PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE WHILE INCREASING THE NUMBER ENROLLED IN GOVERNMENT-MANAGED, RATIONED HEALTH CARE.
(a) In General.–In the Senate, it shall not be in order, to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that decreases the number of Americans enrolled in private health insurance plans, while increasing the number of Americans enrolled in government-managed, rationed health care (as determined by the Congressional Budget Office).
(b) Waiver.–This section may be waived or suspended only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn.
(c) Appeals.–An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under this section.
SENATE VOTES ON HEALTHCARE RATIONING
Efforts to Oppose Defeated Along Party Lines
April 2, 2009 — The Senate had a flurry of voting on amendments to the Budget Bill yesterday, including one extremely important vote that could have helped to stop government rationing of medical care.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) offered an amendment , SA 793, that would have thrown a big roadblock in the way of any plans for government rationing through “Comparative Effectiveness Research,” or CER.
The stimulus bill passed with $1.1 billion allocated for CER to compare the clinical outcomes, effectiveness, and appropriateness of medical services. That money sets the stage for a health rationing bureaucracy.
Yesterday on the floor of the Senate, Sen. Kyl and his colleague Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) expressed their concern that CER would be used to justify rationing by comparing costs, rather than effectiveness. Sen. Roberts compared it to giving away the “golden ring” to bureaucrats.
The language of Sen. Kyl’s amendment was simple: it would have prohibited the government from denying care to patients just to save money based on CER studies.
