Letter to HHS Calling for an Extension of the Comment Period
January 11, 2012
PDF attachment below.
The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary of Health and Human Services
The Hubert H. Humphrey Building
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
January 11, 2012
Dear Secretary Sebelius:
We, the undersigned, are health advocacy organizations representing millions of patients and their families who will be dramatically impacted by the way in which Essential Health Benefits are defined. We are writing to ask that you allow us more time in which to offer comments in response to the Bulletin on Essential Benefits you announced on December 16, 2011.
The design of the Essential Health Benefits will directly impact the scope of health benefits and the well-being of over 70 million patients. Beneficiaries affected will be those covered in non-grandfathered plans in the individual and small group markets, the Medicaid benchmark, and other Basic Health Programs. Basically, these benefit sets will have far reaching implications for our entire health system. Weighing in on this decision is far too important to be done with anything less than careful and intensive deliberation.
A number of factors lead to a request for an extension of time: 1) the large number of people affected; 2) the enormous complexity of the issues which must be considered; 3) the fact that the Bulletin was released just before the long holiday period; and 4) the very short 45 day comment period. Therefore, we respectfully request that the comment period be extended by an additional 45 days until March 15, 2012.
Thank you very much.
Respectfully,
AIDS Action Committee of MA
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
The AIDS Institute
AIDS United
American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association
American Lung Association
American Nurses Association
American Society of Addiction Medicine
The Arc of Illinois
Arthritis Foundation
California Institute for Mental Health
California Society of Addiction Medicine
California Mental Health Directors Association
Campaign for Better Health Care, Illinois
Citizen Action/Illinois
Clinical Social Work Association
Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)
Community Catalyst
County Alcohol & Drug Program Administrators Association of California
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America
Elev8
Epilepsy Foundation
Harm Reduction Coalition
Health & Disability Advocates
HealthHIV
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights
Illinois Alcoholism & Drug Dependence Association
Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities
Illinois Chiropractic Society
Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition
Illinois Public Health Association
International Pemphigus Pemphigoid Foundation
Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago (LAF)
Lifelong AIDS Alliance
Lupus Foundation of America
Lupus Foundation of Mid and Northern New York, Inc.
Lupus Research Institute National Coalition
Men's Health Network
Mental Health America
Michigan Association of CMH Boards
Minnesota Recovery Connection
Nashville CARES
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers
National Association of County Behavioral Health and Development Directors
National Association of Hispanic Nurses
National Athletic Trainers' Association
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD)
The National Grange
National Minority Quality Forum
National Organization for Rare Disorders
National Patient Advocate Foundation
National Psoriasis Foundation
National Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities
National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable
National Women’s Law Center
National Women's AIDS Collective (NWAC)
The Neuropathy Association
OWL - The Voice For Midlife and Older Women
Parkinson's Action Network
Platelet Disorder Support Association
Prevent Cancer Foundation
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association
RetireSafe
Scleroderma Foundation, Inc.
Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation
Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR)
State Associations of Addiction Services
Tennessee AIDS Advocacy Network
Treatment Communities of America
Veterans Health Council
Vietnam Veterans of America
The Watershed
WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease
