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For Immediate
Release
October 21,
2009
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Communications
Coordinator
1-800-838-0388
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MAINE
LEGISLATORS & CONSUMER
HONORED
FOR HEALTH REFORM EFFORTS
Rep. Sharon Treat, Sen. Phil Bartlett II Receive
Legislative Hero Award
John Carr Recognized as
Consumer Advocate of the
Year
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(Augusta) Consumers for Affordable Health Care
(CAHC) is proud to award Representative Sharon Treat and
Senator Phil Bartlett II with the 2009 Legislative Hero
Award. As Maine's largest consumer health
coalition we are also pleased to recognize John Carr as
our 2009 Advocate of the Year. All three award
recipients have contributed significantly toward our
mission of achieving quality, affordable health care for
all Maine people.
CAHC recognized Representative
Treat for her continued work with our Coalition
and her efforts toward passing meaningful health care
reform, including her sponsorship of LD
1205, "An Act to Establish a Health Care Bill of
Rights." This bill represents a landmark victory for
Maine's health care consumers and for our Coalition.
Among its achievements, the bill provides transparency
in Maine's private insurance markets, improves
regulations, and enhances consumer protections. The bill
has received national attention by the Progressive
States Network, among others.
"I'm very appreciative of
CAHC for recognizing my efforts. I think the entire
Insurance and Financial Services Committee made a big
effort to work through the issues and make sure Maine
people have the information they need to buy appropriate
insurance policies for themselves and their
families. This is a good step forward to reforming
health care. I hope the Federal Government will
take action soon to expand access to health care for all
Mainers and Americans," says Representative Sharon
Treat.
Rep. Treat is in her 18th
nonconsecutive year in the Maine Legislature. She
has served in both the Maine House and Senate, including
two years as Senate Majority Leader and two as Assistant
Leader. She is House Chair of the Insurance &
Financial Services Committee and serves on the Maine
Citizen Trade Advisory Commission. Outside of the
Legislature, Rep. Treat serves as Executive Director of
the National Legislative Association on Prescription
Drug Prices and is the Legal Project Director for
Prescription Policy Choices.
CAHC honored Sen. Philip
Bartlett II for his commitment to working with
our Coalition, standing up for consumers, advancing
cutting-edge health care cost containment efforts, as
well as his recent sponsorship of LD
1444, "An Act to Protect Consumers and Small
Business Owners from Rising Health Care Costs." LD 1444
has also received national attention for its
path-breaking efforts to contain health care costs by
improving transparency in Maine's health care system,
advancing system wide payment reform efforts, and for
its commitment to quality improvement.
"I am honored to receive
this award from an organization that has done so much to
bring down health care costs. LD 1444 will improve
transparency in our health care system and advance the
discussion regarding how consumers, small business
owners, and large employers pay for health care in
Maine," says Senator Phil Bartlett
II.
Sen. Bartlett is currently the Senate
Majority Leader and is one of the youngest people
elected Majority Leader in Senate history. He has
co-chaired the Utilities and Energy Committee, and is a
member of the Natural Resources and Governmental
Oversight Committees. In the 123rd Maine
Legislature, Sen. Bartlett also sponsored LD 1849,
another bill that paved the way for many of the health
care cost containment efforts advanced by the Advisory
Council on Health Systems Development which eventually
lead to the Health Dialog Cost Driver study for
Maine.
CAHC
awarded the 2009 Consumer Advocate of the
Year award to John Carr for his continued
devotion to the interests of Maine health care
consumers. Carr is currently the President of the Maine
Council of Senior Citizens/Alliance of Retired
Americans. As a retired International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers contract
negotiator, John has a long history of advocating for
working families.
"John is a tireless
advocate for access to quality, affordable health care
for all Maine people. He has been front and center
in the fight to preserve social security, reform
Medicare and Medicaid, and to expand access to low cost
prescription drugs, notably through the Maine Rx
program that John helped pass. We are proud to honor
him," said CAHC Coalition Coordinator, Doug
Clopp.
Carr also
currently serves as a consumer representative on Maine's
Advisory Council on Health Systems Development, and on
that organization's Payment Reform
Sub-committee.
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Consumers for Affordable Health Care is a
non-profit, non-partisan organization that has been
helping Maine people get quality, affordable health care
for more than 20 years.
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For more information or to schedule interviews
contact: Cherilee Budrick, Communications Coordinator
Consumers for Affordable Health
Care 207-622-7083 cbudrick@mainecahc.org
Consumers for Affordable
Health Care * P.O. Box 2490 *
Augusta, ME *
04330-2490 | |
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