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Up to Support the Vote
HB
624 is coming up for a committee vote this
Thursday, January 26, at 1:30 p.m. at the General Assembly
Building in downtown Richmond. Everyone is invited to attend the meeting
and show support for the bill. We
need everyone's help to get this passed! Bring your friends,
family, and co-workers. Directions to the General Assembly Building and other
important information may be found here.
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New legislation has been introduced to the General Assembly and has been
designated House
Bill 624 (pdf file*). This bill will require insurance carriers to provide
for coverage of the treatment of morbid obesity, including weight-loss surgery.
Now is the time to Exercise Your Voice to the General Assembly and
tell them you support HB 624 by calling the Constituent Viewpoint Messaging
Center--Deadline
Wednesday afternoon, January 25!
This is extremely easy to do! Click here for printable
instructions (pdf file*). Make copies for your friends, family, and
co-workers, and ask them to call and express their support for House Bill 624.
*You must have Adobe Acrobat to open this file.
Click to get it now!
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We are now in Phase
II, which involves everyone
contacting members of the General Assembly in face-to-face visits
and educating them about them the need for mandating weight-loss surgery to
treat morbid obesity. Tell
your story. Tell them how obesity
and weight-loss surgery has affected your life. Educate
them on the staggering statistics and facts
on obesity and how it affects insurance companies and the insured patients. An
excellent tool is to put together a list of what medical costs you
and your insurance company had to pay as a morbidly obese person, and compare
that to the reduced medical expenses after the surgery (e.g.,
decrease in co-morbidities, doctor's visits, medications, medical tests, medical
management, etc.). Educate
them about the recent JAMA
Morbid Obesity studies and what the facts really are! The
best time for these visits is from now until Christmas.
We’ve put together some guidelines
for talking face-to-face with your legislators. Go
over these lists with your legislator, and be sure to leave a copy of them with
him/her.
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At the August General Assembly hearings, in
a close vote, the Special Advisory
Commission on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits did not approve
the request to make weight-loss surgery a mandated benefit.
The Commission’s report is only advisory because the General
Assembly plays a more important role in this process.
This just means we have to work harder to educate the General Assembly. We can
only do this with your help! Phase II
will aim to accomplish this. Please join us in visiting your legislators face to
face!
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Dear Registered Members,
Those of you who have already
sent your letters to your representatives and answered
"yes" to post your letter anonymously, we need you to send
a copy of your letters to ObesityVote.com.
(See below.) So far, only 4 of you have sent copies of your letters. We need
them so that we may post them for other members to get an idea of what kinds of things to
include in their letters. Of course, your name or identity will not be used.
Please see our privacy policy.
Send
copies of your letters to:
citizens@obesityvote.com
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As you all know, Virginia has been the
leader of several significant events throughout history. Many great
legislative bills were first passed in Virginia, and got the ball rolling for
other states to follow suit. Right now, we would like to lead the United States
in the fight to get legislation passed that would allow every morbidly obese
individual to have weight-loss surgery through help from his or her insurance
company.
There will be a General Assembly Meeting on
Wednesday, August 17, 2005 in Richmond Virginia, where the
Special Advisory Commission on Mandated Benefits will meet to vote on HB
1936. The more people who tell their stories in writing to these six members of this
committee before this meeting, regardless of his or her district or state, the greater
the impact we will make for these bills and why they need to be passed.
We would like for all residents of Virginia
who have not written a letter to their local legislator and for all
non-Virginia residents to write their letters now! If the other
states help us get the path cleared here in Virginia, it will make the path
easier to navigate when your state is up for considering these important
legislative bills. Letters must reach
the committee before Tuesday, August 16th.
Please be sure to register here at
ObesityVote.com
so that we can keep you informed on the latest news and happenings surrounding
these legislative issues and more. Don't forget to read the instructions
for the proper format to use when writing to legislation, the points
to include in your letter, and other sobering
statistics on morbid obesity, which may help you make your point.
Via E-mail
E-mail your letters to all six members
of the Special Advisory Commission
right now! Important: don't forget to
include the following in your e-mail (copy and paste into the appropriate fields
on the e-mail):
Cc:
citizens@obesityvote.com
Subject:
ObesityVote.com SB 1032, HB1936
Use as your
salutation:
Dear Senator/Legislator Firstname Lastname:
[Click
Here to send e-mail now]
Via US Mail or Courier Service
To send your letter through the US mail or courier service, please
select a delegate from below or send a copy of your letter to all delegates
listed. Please be sure to send a copy to
ObesityVote.com!
If you are writing the letter on paper and mailing it to them, address the
envelope: The
Honorable (delegate or senator's full name).
Send
copy of your letter to:
ObesityVote.com
P. O. Box 854
Chesterfield, Virginia 23832
Special Advisory Committee
The Honorable Harry B. Blevins
P.O. Box 16207
Chesapeake
, VA 23328
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Honorable Kathy J. Byron
523 Leesville Road
Lynchburg
, VA 24502
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The Honorable Clarke N. Hogan
455 Short Street
Suite 204
South Boston
, VA 24592
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Honorable Bradley P. Marrs
P.O. Box 3941
Richmond
, VA 23235
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Honorable Russell H. Potts, Jr.
14 North Braddock Street
Winchester
, VA 226014120
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The Honorable R. Lee Ware
P.O. Box 689
Powhatan
, VA 23139
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Dear bariatric surgery advocates,
The Special Advisory Commission on Mandated Benefits will meet on
August
17 at 2:00 p.m.
in the General Assembly Building, which is on the Capitol grounds in
Richmond. T
hey will be voting on HB
1936.
We would like
to invite all supporters to attend this meeting so that the committee
will see us, and the bill will be passed for others in the Commonwealth of
Virginia. This is just the beginning!
Over the years, Virginia has been the
leader with several significant events throughout history, and it would be
nice if we could be a leader in the fight from obesity. If we are the leader,
then maybe other states will follow us, just as before.
We would like to see a packed house of supporters. So, share the news with
your friends and family and join us on the Capitol grounds in Richmond. Thanks, and we hope to see you there!
Please
bring a government picture ID (driver’s license) with you to gain
entrance to the General Assembly building and allow time to go through security.
We are hoping to have a packed audience with
bariatric surgery advocates, so please plan to attend.
By your presence, we’ll demonstrate to the Commission what bariatric
surgery has meant (or will mean) to you.
The General Assembly Building is not difficult to find, but
parking and street repairs can make the drive and parking unpredictable.
Give yourselves plenty of time. Below
are the directions to the Building as well as parking lots in the vicinity.
Directions to
General Assembly Building
Corner of 9th and
Broad Streets
Richmond, Virginia
Directions
from the North
• Take I-95 South
• Take 3rd Street exit and cross Broad Street
• Turn left onto Franklin Street and follow until it dead-ends
• Turn left onto 9th Street
Directions
from the South
• Take I-95 North
• Take I-195, Downtown Expressway
• Take Canal Street/9th Street exit
• Turn right onto 9th Street
Directions
from the East
• Take I-64 West
• Take 5th Street exit and cross Broad Street
• Turn left onto Franklin Street and follow until it dead-ends
• Turn left onto 9th Street
Directions
from the West
• Take I-64 East
• Take I-195, Downtown Expressway, through toll booth
• Take 7th/9th Street exit and go straight
• Turn left onto 9th Street
Street
Parking
• Metered parking on Broad, Grace, 8th, 12th and Bank Streets
(two-hour limit; signs strictly enforced)
Parking
Lots and Decks
• St. Paul’s Episcopal Church parking lot (8th Street between Grace
and
Franklin)
• 8th and Grace Street Parking lot
• Bank of America parking deck (12th and Cary Street)
• 14th and Cary Street parking lot
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If you are planning to attend this meeting, please RSVP
to ObesityVote.com.
Put "RSVP 8/17/05"
in the Subject: field. Be sure to include your e-mail
address that you used to register here at ObesityVote.com.
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Dear Registered Members,
This Web site is still under construction. We appreciate your patience while
we continue to build a place where you can come to exercise your voice to your
legislators.
Those of you who have already joined but have not sent a letter to your
representatives, please take the time e-mail your letters before
August 17th, when the General Assembly will be meeting to vote on these
bills. Also, please don't forget to send a Cc:
to ObesityVote.com!
(See below.) Letters must reach
the committee before Tuesday, August 16th.
Those of you who have already
sent your letters to your representatives and answered
"yes" to post your letter anonymously, we need you to send
a copy of your letters to ObesityVote.com.
(See below.) So far, only 4 of you have sent copies of your letters. We need
them so that we may post them for other members to get an idea of what kinds of things to
include in their letters. Of course, your name or identity will not be used.
Please see our privacy policy.
Send
copies of your letters to:
citizens@obesityvote.com
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