Coalition Letter to Senator Reid

Dear Majority Leader Reid, 

On July 6, 2009, our religious denominations and organizations released a statement identifying 

policies in health reform that were necessary to protect and improve health care for the nation’s 

lowest-income families.  While each of our denominations and organizations has additional 

priorities in health reform that we have communicated to Congress, we believe that it is essential 

to speak with a common voice on the needs of lower-income families, so that their interests are 

not lost in the debate. Our religious traditions place a fundamental value of making sure that 

everyone, including the most vulnerable, has access to our nation’s health care table of plenty. 

 September 30, 2009 

The Honorable Harry Reid 

United States Senate 

522 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, D.C. 20510-2803 

Dear Majority Leader Reid, 

On July 6, 2009, our religious denominations and organizations released a statement identifying 

policies in health reform that were necessary to protect and improve health care for the nation’s 

lowest-income families.  While each of our denominations and organizations has additional 

priorities in health reform that we have communicated to Congress, we believe that it is essential 

to speak with a common voice on the needs of lower-income families, so that their interests are 

not lost in the debate. Our religious traditions place a fundamental value of making sure that 

everyone, including the most vulnerable, has access to our nation’s health care table of plenty. 

We know that you will hear from many interest groups with a stake in the outcome of your 

deliberations.  We urge you to listen most carefully to families who are struggling to find and 

keep affordable health coverage.  We hear so often from people who are deeply concerned about 

the rising cost of health coverage and who worry that health reform may not do enough to make 

health care truly affordable for their families. 

The health care reform bills passed by the HELP and Senate Finance Committees offer the 

potential of a more secure and healthy life for many lower-income families, but only if we get 

the details right.   As you merge these two bills into legislation that will meet the needs of 

families in every state in the nation, we urge you to include the following policies, based on our 

July 6 joint statement: 

1. Adopt the HELP language, which follows current federal policy, in exempting families 

below 150 percent of FPL ($27,465) from premiums.  Everyone should contribute to their 

health care costs, but we urge you to protect families with the least resources from costs that 

act as barriers to obtaining coverage or seeing a doctor.  That is why current federal law 

exempts families earning less than 150 percent of FPL from premiums under Medicaid.  The 

HELP bill correctly applies this policy to families obtaining coverage through the exchange. 

2. Reduce out-of-pocket costs for families between 100 and 300 percent of FPL ($18,310 to 

$54,930 for a family of three).  The Senate Finance Mark was amended to include added 

protections for higher-income families earning between 300-400 percent of FPL.  While this 

was a step in the right direction, similar improvements should also be made to protect lower- 

income families, who could face costs that represent an extraordinarily high percentage of 

their income if they face serious or chronic illnesses.  No family should go broke because they 

get sick, yet that is exactly what could happen to many families if there is not a stronger cap 

on out-of-pocket costs for lower-income families. 

3. Increase the value of plans offered to families in Medicaid and through the Exchange, 

following the HELP approach.   The HELP bill provides greater protection for lower- 

income families by providing higher-value plans in the Exchange.  It is important that 

families, many of whom are already under-water financially, be able to afford the co- 

payments and deductibles associated with the coverage that they are mandated to purchase.  

The HELP approach does a better job at making sure that families have coverage they can 

afford to use to get the care they need when they need it.  Similarly, it is critical that people 

who are newly eligible for Medicaid receive adequate coverage.  The Senate Finance 

Committee approach, which provides the lowest value plans to people who have the greatest 

needs, is manifestly unfair and counter-productive to promoting quality health care. 

Together these policies would go a long way to making health care more affordable to families 

who are the least able to bear the brunt of an individual responsibility to purchase health care.  

These priorities are not just the moral thing to do, but are essential to garnering the public 

support needed to pass and sustain reform that works for families.   

We would be happy to discuss these issues directly with you and your staff.  We pray that you 

find the wisdom and courage to make the right decisions for the health and stability of our 

nation’s families at this critical moment. 

Sincerely, 

The Episcopal Church 

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 

National Council of Churches of Christ 

PICO National Network  

Sojourners 

Union for Reform Judaism 

cc Senator Richard Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader 

Senator Max Baucus, Chairman, Senate Finance Committee  

Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman, Senate HELP Committee 

Senator Chris Dodd, Senate HELP Committee