Legislative news at the National and State levels, and specific news from our State Lobbyist and Legislative Trustee, plus Legislative links.

HIPAA Senate S 577 HR 2793
ABATE OF FLA URGENT Legislative ACTION needed
We need every member of ABATE to respond NOW

Re: HIPAA and healthcare discrimination against motorcyclists

US Senate bill S 577 and US House bill HR 2793

REQUESTED CHANGE in mode of communication :
We previously requested letters written and mailed. Now that is too late. Please email of fax any letters or make phone calls to the local and Washington DC offices.

Greetings Freedom Fighters,
I bring this message to you serving in the capacity as your State Legislative Officer.
This is a Request for legislative ACTION from each Chapter / all members.

I am hopeful our legislative agenda and spirit is alive within your Chapter. I also hope that you believe in what we do and who we are and that your actions can be counted upon to help collectively strengthen the voice and power of our legislative grassroots organization.

ACTION NEEDED – listed below, other original information from MRF also below

We need each ABATE OF FLORIDA member to submit three emails, faxes of letters (or phone calls) – one to their US House Representative and the other two to our US Senators from Florida.

This is in regard to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) which is legislation being worked on in the US Senate and US House. This is important to us because it has provisions to preventing health insurance discrimination against motorcyclists. We had addressed this previously and were successful years ago when the legislation was introduced. Motorcyclists from across the nation worked together to make it happen. No other laws were even passed to undo our previous work, bureaucrats have figured out how to nail us with a couple of loopholes. This legislation will close

the loopholes and we need Florida motorcyclists and ABATE members to contact our Florida legislators in the US Congress and ask them to sign on to these bills as co-sponsors and then vote for them when they come up for a vote

The bill number in the Senate S 577

In the Senate, only a handful of yanks are signed on as co-sponsors (6) and not a single one from Florida. We have two US Senators from Florida; we need all members to write them each a letter. http://www.senate.gov/

Martinez, Mel- (R – FL
317 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
phone (202) 224-3041

Nelson, Bill- (D - FL)
716 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
phone (202) 224-5274

Email, faxed Letter or phone call to each of these Senators:

Please sign onto S.577 as a co-sponsor and vote for it. Thank you.

**********************

HR 2793 is the corresponding bill in the US House.

There are currently 43 co-sponsors in the House, but there is only one from Florida (Representative Wexler)

Florida is a populous state and has many representatives. As the State Motorcycle Rights Organization in Florida, we need

to pull our weight and get more of them signed on as co-sponsors. The list of our Florida members of the US House is

below. Each member needs to only send a letter to one of them, whichever is their elected Representative to the US

House. The district number should be printed on your voter registration card, but if you need help determining who your

US House member is, you can put your address in one of the web sites, call your Chapter Legislative Rep or email me.

• Bilirakis, Michael , Florida, 9th
• Boyd, Allen , Florida, 2nd
• Brown, Corrine , Florida, 3rd
• Brown-Waite, Virginia, Florida, 5th
• Crenshaw, Ander , Florida, 4th
• Davis, Jim , Florida, 11th
• Diaz-Balart, Lincoln , Florida, 21st
• Diaz-Balart, Mario, Florida, 25th
• Feeney, Tom, Florida, 24th
• Foley, Mark , Florida, 16th
• Hastings, Alcee L. , Florida, 23rd
• Harris, Katherine, Florida, 13th
• Keller, Ric, Florida, 8th
• Mack, Connie , Florida, 14th
• Meek, Kendrick , Florida, 17th
• Mica, John, Florida, 7th
• Miller, Jeff, Florida, 1st
• Putnam, Adam, Florida, 12th
• Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana , Florida, 18th
• Shaw Jr., E. Clay , Florida, 22nd
• Stearns, Cliff , Florida, 6th
• Wasserman Schultz, Debbie , Florida, 20th
• Weldon, Dave , Florida, 15th
**Wexler, Robert , Florida, 19th (**Rep Wexler is the only co-sponsor from Florida)
• Young, C.W. Bill , Florida, 10th

The addresses are available on the links or one of the web sites, but they are also in the government pages of your phone book. ( http://www.house.gov/ )

Email, faxed Letter or phone call to each of these Representatives in the US House:

"Please sign onto HR 2793 as a co-sponsor and vote for it. Thank you."

**Those of you in Representative Wexler’s district, still write him and thank him for his support and ask he vote for the bill when it comes up for a vote

NOTE: This request for Action is in regard to legislation being addressed by our legislators serving in the US Congress which convenes in Washington, DC, - not

Tallahassee. This is federal (not state) legislation. Please direct your three letters and/or calls to your two (2) US Senators from Florida and the US House member representing your voting district. Sometimes this is important to clarify for newer members or anyone else who may be simply unfamiliar with the difference.

This is not just about motorcyclists being discriminated against in Florida, our success will help prevent health care discrimination against bikers nationwide............JEB

Immediately below, please find a response to one of Florida's Members in the United States House of Representatives, and below that is the US Reps response to our Nature

Coast Chapter Legislative Reps request that she co-sponsor and support HR2793. The response from our elected official is less than we want to hear. It is valuable to learn what and how they think even when they are not supportive of our requests, and even more valuable is how we may respond back. The response below is a good one. It is not a 'flame' nor does she resort to the attack mode simply because we do not have the desired response. This below is also a valuable example in and of itself:

- someone helping work toward our organization's agenda
- sharing the response with us so that we can learn what kind of information will be
  necessary to provide materials to more effectively educate our elected officials
- rational dialogue and request even when a contrary opinion or concern appears to
  stand in the way of request for support

When we keep coming back to the table with information they previously have not even thought about, we can succeed in educating our elected officials - if we have not alienated them by attacking their viewpoints and beliefs in a hostile or threatening manner. If we stoop to the latter, additional info we try to present will most likely fall on deaf ears.

The following is our member's response to what her House member's shared when asked for HR2793 support:

>>> K C Mallady 7/27/2005 14:01:42 >>>

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my email. I know that there are already policies for those of us who participate in "these activities". As I mentioned in my email, I engage in this activity as a source of transportation. With the cost of gasoline rising, motorcycles seem to be a good choice for US transportation needs; reducing the dependence on foreign oil.As I also mentioned, I am a healthcare worker at one of the Level I Trauma Centers in Florida. I am more than aware of the cost of healthcare. What happens when there is no insurance to pay for the individual? The hospital must assume this cost. If hospitals begin assuming too much cost there are several things that can happen. One is closure, without funding no one gets care. A second is the cost to those consumers with insurance rises. This would spread the burden across the many instead of

just the few hospitals or rehab centers. If you look at this issue in this light, how is a no vote be a saving to anyone? Insurance companies and healthcare facilities have traditionally had to spread the burden of the under- or un- insured across the plane in

an effort to stay financially afloat.I continue to urge you to support this legislation that will keep costs down and ensure the healthcare to all of us who pay premiums and participate in "these activities".Sincerely,KC Mallady, RNA Member ofABATE of

Florida, Inc.Nature Coast Chapter

The following is the response to our member from her congresswoman (because our member had contacted her for HR2793 support)

>>> "Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite" <fl05ima.pub@mail.house.gov> 7/26/2005 20:51:03 >>> Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I appreciate the time you took to contact my office on this important issue and welcome the opportunity to respond. Congressman Burgess (TX-26) has introduced H.R. 2793, the HIPPA Recreational Injury Technical Correct Act. The measure would prohibit health insurance providers from denying benefits for an injury from a transportation and recreational activity, such as motorcycling or skiing. This bill has been referred to the Committees on Energy & Commerce, Education & Workforce, and Ways & Means. The bill attempts to correct an alleged technical issue regarding health insurance coverage. However, as the United States continues to grapple with rising health care costs, I worry that mandates such as these only add to the burden. Specific insurance policies are already available to individuals who choose to engage in these activities, so I question why this

requirement is needed. That said, I will certainly keep your concerns in mind should the bill come before the House of Representatives for consideration. I thank you for your concern regarding this very important matter and I hope you will continue to share your thoughts and views with me. It is my honor and privilege to serve the people of Florida's 5th Congressional District and my offices and staff are here to provide you with any assistance you may need. Sincerely, Ginny Brown-Waite Member of Congress