Dear Herndon Partner,

Message of the Week, November 3, 2010: Three Points to Hit Post-Election

1. Election Results were about the Economy and Jobs: Currently our economic woes trump the public's concern about health reform. According to a CNN exit poll, only 19% of voters named health care reform as their top concern – a distant second to the 61% of voters most concerned with the economy. Numerous pre-election polls found that a member's vote for the health law was not a disqualifying factor for their re-election.

2. The Role of Health Care in Election Results is at Best Inconclusive. Consider the following:

• More than half of the 34 Democrats who bucked their party in March (and voted against the health care legislation) still lost their races Tuesday night. - Politico
• Colorado's health reform opt-out ballot initiative looks like it will fail by a small margin while similar measures in Arizona and Oklahoma score double-digit wins. - PULSE

The only thing we know for certain is that when the public hears truthful facts about the law, they want the benefits and move in support of health reform.

3. Public wants Implementation and Improvement NOT Repeal: Congress has spent the past 18 months talking about healthcare. If the GOP decides to make repealing healthcare their number # 1 priority, as Rep Boehner has suggested, he and his counter parts will be grossly misreading the results of this election. This election was about jobs and the economy. It's time to focus on what the voters want— jobs— not more time posturing on health reform. (48% of voters want the health care law repealed. 31% said it should be expanded and 16% want it left in place as is. Politico)

REMEMBER to EMPHASIZE what repeal will mean:

1. We will continue to be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
2. We will continue to have our coverage dropped when we get sick.
3. We will continue to have lifetime caps.
4. Small businesses will continue to have to pay higher rates for health insurance than big corporations.
5. Prevention will no longer be a focus of our healthcare system.
6. Members of Congress will not be required to get the same healthcare coverage as millions of Americans.
7. New measures to cut down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare will be eliminated.

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