No Recess for Health Reform Press Conference

August 11, 2009

                                                                              MEDIA ALERT                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Contacts: Akemi Flynn, 408-504-8030, akemiflynn@pactsj.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                           Leticia Martinez, 408-234-5966 (Spanish/English)

Aug 11, 2009                                                                                                       Marie Moore, 408-230-5239                                                

SAN JOSE, CA                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

** Call for advance interviews with affected community members.

See stories below of how the health care system is failing local families. **

                                                                  MEDIA ALERT

NO Recess for Health Reform!

The Creeping Crisis in Silicon Valley:

High Tech Workers Suffering Due to Broken Health Insurance System

Faith Community and Local Officials Urge Congress to Pass Health Reform

* Part of a day of national faith-based outreach to 100 Members of Congress *

WHAT:  PACT faith and community leaders and local public officials will gather at the San Jose office of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren to stand together in support of the passage of health insurance reform this year. Silicon Valley leaders and community member will send a clear message to Congress: the broken health system is affecting our entire community and economy.  Ongoing delay is denial – we need reform now.

With the future of health reform legislation on the line during the August Congressional recess, this event is a demonstration of broad support for reform in Silicon Valley and is part of a nationwide faith-based campaign, organized by PICO National Network and other national religious groups, expected to reach 100 Members of Congress.  For more information about the August recess campaign, visit www.coverallfamilies.org.

WHEN:    Tuesday, August 11, 12:00pm                                                                                                    
WHERE:  Office of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, 635 N 1st St, San Jose 95112
WHO: Assemblymember Jim Beall, Chris Wilder, CEO of the VMC Foundation; Kathleen King, Executive Director of the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and other community members affected by the broken health insurance system
WHY:  Now more than ever, Silicon Valley needs national health care reform.

Sheila and John Dowd, Silicon Valley high tech and nonprofit entrepreneurs, residents of San Jose’s affluent Rosegarden neighborhood – are living the nightmare of the failing health insurance system.  When John's company shut down last year, he decided to put his high tech skills to work through his own business, just as Sheila had done with her non-profit expertise.  When they applied to continue their family’s health coverage, now as independent contractors, their insurance company rejected them because of pre-existing conditions –

allergies, a minor running injury and treatment for their daughter’s ear infections when she was a toddler - all very common, mild health issues.

 The Dowd’s experience highlights the vulnerability of a growing number of Silicon Valley high tech workers and entrepreneurs in this economic downturn when health insurance costs are skyrocketing and insurance companies can deny coverage for every day health conditions.

"We shouldn't be at the mercy of a health insurance company that only cares about making money.  Not only do we live in fear of one of us getting sick or hurt, but this situation is shutting down the entrepreneurial spirit that drives the Silicon Valley economy," said Sheila Bernus Dowd.  

The Creeping Crisis:  Every day, more Californians – including Silicon Valley’s middle class and affluent families - are losing health coverage due to the state’s budget crisis, skyrocketing unemployment, and increasing costs of insurance:

§  Children are being bumped off state health programs as the budget is cut again and again.

§  Entire families are losing employer-based coverage with growing numbers of lay offs.

§  Families cannot afford to maintain private health coverage as fees rise and their income becomes more insecure – many Silicon Valley professionals have gone from salaried employment with benefits to sporadic contract work, at best.

§  More than one out of three people (37.4 percent) in California went without health insurance for all or part of 2007-2008.

§  Between January 2008 and January 2009, it is estimated that 637,300 California workers and their families joined the ranks of uninsured because of the state’s 4 percent increase in unemployment.  Unemployment  - now nearly 12% in Silicon Valley - and the numbers of uninsured continue to increase.

How health insurance reform will benefit Silicon Valley families:

1.     Insurance companies would be prohibited from discriminating against you if you get sick.  No more denying people coverage for pre-existing conditions, jacking up rates when people get sick, or forcing people to pay way more than they can afford for getting the care they need.

2.     If people change jobs or lose their jobs, they will not have to worry about losing their health coverage.  Subsidies would be available based on family income to help people buy health coverage from either private insurance or a public program.

3.     Small business owners will get tax credits to buy health coverage for themselves and their employees.  They will no longer be charged higher rates than large businesses.

4.     Finally, the skyrocketing cost of health care would be controlled by paying doctors and hospitals for improving the quality of care they deliver, rather than the number of procedures they order.

More Stories of the Broken Health Insurance System: 

 Two retired lawyers – We saved so we could retire early. I retired from law in 1992 and became a school librarian. My husband retired from law in 2001 at the age of 52.  In 2007, at age 60, I retired for good.  I’m in excellent health but private health insurers considered me uninsurable because of minor pre-existing health conditions: high cholesterol controlled by medication and mild sleep apnea. We don’t have it so bad, but I’m scared and mad. I’m scared I’ll get seriously ill or in an accident during the 12-month period after COBRA expires and we’ll lose everything.  I’m mad, because we did all the right things: worked hard, saved, didn’t go into debt.  Out of control health, banking and investment systems derailed our American dream. It’s time for a major change.

 Event Organized by:

v  PACT: People Acting in Community Together is a multi-ethnic, interfaith organization that empowers people to create a more just community.  PACT represents 21 congregations and 50,000 people in Santa Clara County, and is part of the PICO National Network.  www.pactsj.org

v  PICO National Network has fifty-two affiliated federations working in 150 cities and towns and seventeen states. More than one million families and one thousand congregations from forty different denominations and faiths participate in PICO. www.piconetwork.org