Talk About Curing Autism - TACA

Talk About Curing Autism Newsletter
Families Helping Families with Autism

Greetings TACA Members!

Here is your latest update on TACA. We want to make this e-newsletter informative for you. As always, contact us with your questions or thoughts on how we can improve it.

Health Care Reform that Fails to Stop Autism Insurance Discrimination is Unacceptable—TACA Needs Your Help!

Like it or not, health care reform is coming to America. President Obama has pledged that the Health Care Reform Bill that is currently working its way through Congress will be signed into law by October of this year. The autism community needs to unite and take advantage of this unique opportunity to stop autism insurance discrimination.

Why is this important now?

Autism insurance reform can and should be included in the final health care reform bill. For this to happen, the autism community needs to mobilize now! Congress ends its summer legislative session on August 3rd. That gives our community under a month to make this goal happen.

Television commercials on CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC will be running over the next few days bringing this critical issue to the forefront of our country. These ads start running today. We need to capitalize on the visibility of these commercials and make autism insurance reform a reality.

How you can help

Contact Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Please use these numbers.

Washington DC offices:
Speaker Pelosi: 202-225-0100
Majority Leader Reid’s: 202-224-3542

West Coast offices (for those calling after 2 p.m. Pacific Standard Time):
Speaker Pelosi: 415-556-4862
Majority Leader Reid: 775-882-7343

Need help with what to say on the phone? Use the following message, if you like:

“Hi, my name is ___________________. I am calling from _____________ (city), _______________________ (state). I want you to know that health care reform that does not stop autism insurance discrimination is completely and totally unacceptable. People with autism deserve coverage for the treatments and therapies that will help their medical condition. Thank you.”

Please be courteous and respectful but firm. Be patient and keep dialing until you get through. And once you get through, keep calling.

Advocacy tip of the day

Remember that you can multiply your efforts when you think outside the box. The people who call do not need to have a child with autism. They need to care about this issue and be willing to make two phone calls a day until the issue is resolved. TACA challenges everyone to find 10 people you know (family, neighbors, coworkers, teachers, aides, therapists, etc.) who will be willing to do this to help your child, and all children in the United States with autism.

Let’s exercise our right as Americans to be heard by our elected officials and make Autism Insurance Discrimination a thing of the past.