URGENT ALERT – Contact Senator Burr and Senator Tillis Today

To: North Carolina Ob/Gyns

As you’ve likely gathered from all of the media coverage surrounding the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and adoption of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), much is at stake with regard to women’s health. The NC Ob/Gyn Society, in partnership with ACOG, is asking that you contact the offices of Senator Richard Burr and Senator Thom Tills to express concern of the negative impact some of the proposed provisions will have on your patients.

Here are areas of priority:

• No-copay contraceptive coverage – More than 99% of American women aged 15-44 who are sexually active have used contraception at some point in their life. Before contraceptives were completely covered by insurance, women routinely spent between 30% to 44% of their total out-of-pocket health costs on this one basic necessity. No-copay contraception coverage saved women $1.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs in one year, brought our unintended pregnancy rate to the lowest it's been in thirty years, and empowered women to take control of their health – and many other aspects of their lives.
• Medicaid – Medicaid covers 48% of all births in the US, and provides primary and preventive care to over 49 million women nationwide and over 50% in North Carolina. This program cannot stand an $800 billion cut and still play the same critical role in ensuring healthy moms and healthy babies.
• Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn coverage – Everybody on earth was born at some point! Shouldn't the one kind of care we all need be covered by all insurance plans? Proposals to make that coverage optional would take us back to a time when a pregnancy could lead to bankruptcy. Losing this coverage would put women's economic security -- as well as women and infant health -- in jeopardy.
• Protections for those with pre-existing conditions – Before 2010, people could be denied insurance coverage because of “pre-existing conditions” – a category that often included things like having had a C-section, battled depression, or experienced domestic violence, and disproportionately impacted women. Current law ensures that individuals with pre-existing conditions have guaranteed access to the same coverage as everyone else. We can’t afford to lose this critical protection.

You have a couple of options to reach Sen. Burr and Sen. Tillis . . .

1. Online - You can use the ACOG advocacy website to send them both a message with just a few key strokes.
2. By Phone - Call their offices directly – Burr: (202) 224-3154, Tillis: (202) 224-6342.

If you call, here’s a sample message to convey:

As an ob/gyn physician and constituent, I urge Senator [Burr/Tillis] to VOTE NO on any Senate health reform legislation that threatens women’s health in North Carolina. I hope he will agree that any proposal that would increase the number of women without coverage, weaken protections for those with pre-existing conditions, eliminate contraception coverage and increase patients’ out-of-pocket costs is unacceptable.

I would remind the Senator that North Carolina has a significant Medicaid population and that over 50% of births in the state are covered by Medicaid. Rather than proposing cuts that would eliminate the potential of expanding Medicaid and jeopardize the health of many, I would encourage his support for extending coverage to more low-income women, many of whom fall within the high risk range. Doing so would increase the access to care for many and help avoid the cost of providing care once conditions have become critical and requiring more extensive and expensive intervention.

On behalf of the 1600 ob/gyns in North Carolina and our patients, I would respectfully ask for the Senator’s consideration of these concerns. Thank you.

Please also reference ACOG’s website and resources for additional information and key messages:

http://cqrcengage.com/acog/what-is-at-stake?0

Thank you for sending a message or making a call.

Sincerely,

W. Alan Skipper, CAE
Executive Director, NC Ob/Gyn Society
ncobgyn@ncmedsoc.org

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