When I see Republicans using every trick in the book in an attempt to end Medicare as we know it, I wonder if they really understand what Medicare means to seniors.
It’s more than just a way to pay for routine care like checkups and screenings. It’s a guarantee of economic security — a promise that, if you put in a lifetime of hard work, the floor won’t fall out from underneath your retirement because of a health problem.
Every day, I hear from Washington seniors who rely on this promise — and from people still in the workforce who wonder if it will be there for them when they retire. That’s why I’m committed to strengthening Medicare. I fought to pass reform that will send $250 rebates to 62,000 Washington seniors — a down payment on closing the prescription drug “donut hole.”
That’s the path forward on Medicare: bringing down costs, improving quality, and maintaining that promise of retirement security.
But some see a different path, one in which Medicare would be turned into a voucher program. This would be great for insurance companies — but it would require seniors to pay more. And with so many living on a fixed income, this could leave them with nowhere to turn. A program like that wouldn’t be fair to seniors who rely on Medicare for their economic security. It wouldn’t be Medicare at all.
Medicare is critical to the retirement security of millions. It is a promise we made nearly half a century ago, one of the best things we’ve done as a country. And protecting it is one of the jobs I’m most proud to do.
I’ll be in touch soon with an update on our fight to protect Medicare. But, for now, thank you for being part of this team.
The recent images of men, women and children starving in the Horn of Africa tell a painful story of famine and suffering. How does a nation recover from a devastating food crisis? To find out, Chip Duncan and Salim Amin returned to a Ethiopia, to a place where famine caused a massive death toll over 25 years ago. What they discovered was surprising and hopeful. In partnership with One, they created a documentary showing the contrast between 1984 and present-day Tigray. Read their words below, view a preview and watch their powerful short film. << click on link for VIDEO
In Somalia, innocent people are dying needless deaths due to a famine driven by politics and war. Those who are dying need our help and our voice.
Drought is a challenge faced by people around the world. Climate change is now making droughts more common and less predictable. But drought shouldn’t equal famine. Famine is the outcome of poor infrastructure, corrupt governments and warring factions who choose to use food as a weapon.
During our recent work in Ethiopia, we had a chance to revisit the site of the 1984 famine. Our film uses footage and stills from that famine to remind us of the suffering and of its causes. Our story also chronicles the policies and infrastructure put in place during the last two decades to build sustainable agriculture. Water retention systems, irrigation, improved transportation systems, terraced farming, training programs, improved seeds and fertilizers – this is the new legacy in Tigray Province. It’s a story worth sharing so people everywhere can promote small scale agriculture while motivating governments to make similar investments in the future.
Chip Duncan Director, “The Untold Story”
I made a journey following the footsteps of my father from 25 years ago. When Mohamed Amin made that journey a quarter of a century ago, he never imagined it was one that would change his life forever. He had covered every major story in Africa over four decades, but nothing prepared him for what he saw in Korem in October 1984.
A famine of biblical proportions, with more than 5 million people on the verge of starvation. A famine that was, to a large extent, man-made. The ruler of Ethiopia at the time, Colonel Haile Mariam Mengistu, was using the famine as a tool to suppress the rebel movement that was rising against his brutal regime from the north of the country. He didn’t want the world to know this famine existed.
The pictures that my father shot on the plains of Korem changed his life and changed the world. They prompted the greatest single act of charity of the 20th century and saved the lives of millions of Ethiopians. After this story, he changed the way he looked at news coverage. He cared for the first time in his life and did everything he could to keep the story in the headlines. Those images were amongst the most powerful and iconic images in television history.
I was expecting to see Korem still reeling from the effects of that massive famine. It takes generations to repair that kind of damage, but I was in for a shock. I went in with the best TV production team I had ever worked with, and what we saw stunned us all! A massive drought is taking hold of the Horn of Africa once again, but Korem and Tigray Province is an oasis of crops. Irrigation schemes that have been put in place over the last decade. There’s also a new awareness of the types of crops to grow and how to market and sell them for the best prices; and new resilient seeds have all transformed a community from being “takers” to being “providers”.
The farmers of Tigray Province have proved that drought doesn’t have to equal famine, and smart aid can work.
Her story cut through the political noise, helped change the dynamic of the fight over health care reform, and helped us win passage of the landmark Affordable Care Act. Now we are fighting to keep the law. Your stories can help illustrate what statistics and fact sheets can’t always do: show us how the health care law is changing the lives of every day Americans.
Share your story of how the health care law is helping you on our story blog. http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=NWaDKd_EpRV04F6GIYsfuw The story blog is an open forum where people can upload their photos and write about how the law is helping them. After you’ve shared, read some of the amazing stories from women across the country about how the health care law is helping them.
Were you one of the 3.8 million women on Medicare this year who received mammograms without co-pays or other out-of-pockets costs? Is your child one of the nearly one million young adults who gained health coverage due in part to the new law’s provision that allows young adults up to the age of 26 to stay on their parent’s health plan? Are you no longer paying that $20 co-pay for preventive care ?
Stories help cut through the political noise and show others why the law is important and how it is helping Americans from coast to coast. Join the story blog today. http://action.nwlc.org/site/R?i=5c8vCHxiW3uEW3lllBqZHg
Thanks to people like Christine and supporters like you, the health care law is improving the lives of women and their families. Thank you for all you do.
Sincerely,
Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center
We helped secure nationwide protections against retaliation in the workplace, rights for pregnant and parenting students in Michigan, and educational equity for female student athletes in Oldham County, Kentucky.
Throughout the year, we’ve been honored to work with you to expand the possibilities for women and their families so that, as President Obama said at the Center’s Annual Awards Dinner just weeks ago, our children can “go out into a world where there is no limit to how big they can dream and how high they can reach.”
But we have little time to rest on our laurels — 2012 won’t be easy. Will you help?
The coming year will see the Affordable Care Act go before the Supreme Court, where we’ll be fighting to protect the law and ensure that being a woman cannot be a preexisting condition again. With millions of Americans living in poverty and facing long-term unemployment, powerful forces in Congress will STILL lobby for tax cuts to the wealthy at the expense of jobs and programs vital to women and their families. And of course, women STILL earn on average only 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts, showing the clear need for the Paycheck Fairness Act.
Will you help us? Please consider a very generous contribution to the Center — your gift will be doubled by a match from the Center’s Board of Directors and Leadership 35 Committee.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you more about what we’ve done together this year and what 2012 is likely to bring. In the meantime, please help us start our 40th year stronger than ever before. Thank you again for all the help you give and all the work you do on behalf of women and families.
Be a Seed for Change 
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