Healthcare Tennessee

[Tanuki]

I am passing along the following e-mail I just received from Tony Garr, a long-time champion of healthcare reform:

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[from] Tony Garr
Today at 10:44 AM

To xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I am a volunteer and former director of the TN Health Care Campaign. We need your help for several important actions.

You, like I, likely know someone who was uninsured and is now insured through healthcare.gov. You and I also likely know folks who are in the GAP and not covered by the ACA (aka Obamacare). This GAP was created when our state legislature did not accept federal funds as a way to cover low-income working individuals.

Governor Haslam has now introduced "Insure Tennessee,” a plan to cover working Tennesseans in the GAP. However, Tennessee’s State Legislature has to pass Governor Haslam’s Insure Tennessee Plan to make it happen. Insure Tennessee will make a bit difference. It will:

Insure over 200,000 low-income working Tennesseans
Create thousands of high paying new jobs
Protect our Tennessee hospitals. Over the last 2 years, 4 hospitals have closed.
Protect thousands of Tennesseans from personal bankruptcy because of medical bills

I need your help to personally:

Write your state senator and state representative. Most people do not know who they are because district lines were redrawn last year. Go to http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/legislators/ To the right of this page you will find, "Find Your State Legislators.” Type in your street address and city. Two legislators will come up. One will be your Representative and the other your Senator.
Contact them between now and January 13 by:
Phone - If you are not able to speak with the State Legislator or their secretary, leave a message on voice mail expressing your support for Insure Tennessee.
In addition, sent them an email - Same message; and
Also write them a letter - This is the most effective of the three options.
Then send me an email letting me know that you did this and any response that you may have received, either supportive or not. My email is [e-mail]

I also need your help with a group action: Starting Monday evening, January 5, for two weeks from 6 to 9 PM, volunteers will be calling folks across the state asking them to do what I just asked you to do and contact their state legislators. Will you help us with this effort? If so, call me a 615-603-9747 and/or send me an email at [e-mail] We will meet each evening at the offices of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, 500 Interstate Blvd., Nashville, TN 37210.

For me this is personal, I had a brother who got insurance this year through healthcare.gov. For years he had been without insurance and had not received adequate care. This past year, his care was much better and he was able to see doctors, receive medication and physical therapy. However, despite the fact that he got good care, his years of inadequate health care along with his smoking got the best of him and he died in hospice care but with very little medical bills because of healthcare.gov

I would like for all Tennesseans to have access to good medical care, the kind my brother was able to receive. Insure Tennessee will provide this for the 200,000 or more Tennesseans who are now left out. However, our state legislature will have to pass Governor Haslam’s Insure Tennessee plan in January or early February for these 200,000 working Tennesseans to get coverage.

Please take this to heart. Take action now and let me know what you can do, have done and/or hear back. These next few weeks will be critical. Please be a part of this important effort.

For more information, go to, http://coalitionforahealthytennessee.com

Take care and happy New Year,

Tony Garr
615-xxxxxxxxx Home
[e-mail]
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