Use this easy toolkit to make your voices heard
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FYI:
Senate Finance Committee is taking calls. I voiced my opposition, good to let them know people are watching: 202-224-4515
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Your healthcare, taxes, etc are on the line. You know what to do. Thanks, Rikyrah!
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https://twitter.com/Big_Ohhhhh/status/660090869815472128
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https://twitter.com/JewhadiTM/status/660131294643224577
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https://twitter.com/b_fung/status/660148308694982657
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https://twitter.com/cher/status/658797292812546048
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For the first time in more than 50 years of surveys, the CDC on Wednesday reported that more than 90% of Americans ā 90.8% of us, to be specific ā have health insurance.Ā Until now, no major survey had ever found that the uninsured rate in America has hit single digits.Ā The data comes from the National Health Interview Survey, which the CDC and the Census Bureau have been conducting for more than 50 years.
Nearly 16 million fewer Americans were uninsured in early 2015 compared to 2013.Ā And based on past precedent, thereās every expectation that the uninsured rate will continue to go down as enrollment in the ACA exchanges and Medicaid keeps going up.Ā Having more insured customers is good for the health care industry, too. Hospitals are reporting huge jobs gains, and the health care sector is reporting its best 12-month stretch of new jobs in almost 25 years.
More here
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The Obama administration is making a major push for transgender rights by prohibiting health insurance companies and medical providers from discriminating against patients because of their gender identities.Ā Under a proposed regulation issued by the Department of Health and Human Services Thursday, transgender people would be entitled to equal treatment in health care and would gain the legal right to make civil rights claims against insurers, doctors, hospitals and others who deny them coverage or necessary care because they are transgender. That includes forbidding health insurers from categorically excluding treatments related to gender transitions.
Transgender people can face significant barriers to getting medical care, as insurers often won’t cover treatments such as hormone therapy and mental health counseling, especially when this care is related to transitioning, and health care providers sometimes refuse care.Ā The health care regulation is the latest in a series of actions President Barack Obama has taken to advance transgender rights, including tangible steps like making it easier for people to get new passports that reflect their gender identity and symbolic gestures like mentioning transgender people during his State of the Union address.
More here
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14.1 million Americans have gained health plans since Obamacare’s coverage expansion began in 2014.
An additional 2.3 million young adults gained coverage between 2010 and 2013 ā after Obamacare began requiring employer plans to offer dependent coverage through age 26.Ā Federal officials say this is the largest drop in the uninsured rate since 1965, when Medicare and Medicaid began.
A new report from Health and Human Services finds that the uninsured rate has fallen from 20.3 percent prior to the health-care law down to 13.2 percent at the start of 2015. This is a 7.1 percentage-point decrease in the uninsured rate ā or, to put it another way, a 35-percent decline in the number of Americans who lack insurance coverage.Ā “Nothing since the implementation of Medicare and Medicaid has come close to this kind of change,” says Richard Frank, assistant secretary for evaluation and planning at Health and Human Services.
More here
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Obama White House.gov WH Tumblr The People’s View Smartypants Steve Benen
The Obama Diary 
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