https:
www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/advocacy-for-public-health/letters-to-congress-and-federal-agencies
Please see letter from December 2017 for a good example for a form a letter.
Please See Attachment for example lette
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December 21st, 2017
The Honorable Mitch McConnell The Honorable Chuck Schumer
United States Senate United States Senate
Washington, DC XXXXXXXXXXWashington, DC 20510
The Honorable Paul Ryan The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
United States House of Representatives United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC XXXXXXXXXXWashington, DC 20515
The Honorable O
in Hatch The Honorable Ron Wyden
United States Senate United States Senate
Washington, DC XXXXXXXXXXWashington, DC 20510
The Honorable Greg Walden The Honorable Frank Pallone
United States House of Representatives United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC XXXXXXXXXXWashington, DC 20515
Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Ryan, Minority Leader Pelosi,
Chairman Hatch, Ranking Member Wyden, Chairman Walden, and Ranking Member Pallone:
As leading national, state, tribal, and local organizations concerned about the health and well-being
of America’s children and pregnant women, we are writing to urge you to immediately enact a
strong, five-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). As you know, CHIP
funding expired almost three months ago on September 30, 2017 and as federal funding to the states
is running out, families across the country are receiving disenrollment notices and face an uncertain
future about their children’s health care just as they enter the holiday season. No family should feel
the fear and wo
y of whether or not their child will have health care coverage. The most recent
stop-gap measure passed in Congress to allow some states that have run out of funding to continue
their programs is simply not enough for the 8.9 million children who rely on CHIP or for the states
that need to plan for coverage. An immediate, long-term extension of funding for CHIP must be
passed now.
For two decades, CHIP has been an essential source of children’s coverage, ensuring access to high-
quality, affordable, pediatric-appropriate health care for children in working families whose parents
earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to purchase private health insurance on their
own. It is a strong bipartisan state-federal partnership that gives governors
oad flexibility to design
their programs to target the needs of their child populations. CHIP has played a critical role in
educing the number of uninsured children by more than 68 percent, from nearly 15 percent in 1997
to less than five percent in 2015, while improving health outcomes and access to care for children
and pregnant women. The children who stand to lose CHIP would likely have no other affordable
coverage option available to them. The resulting increase in the rate of uninsured children would be
an enormous step backwards.
Children and their families are counting on Congress to act now to extend CHIP funding for five
years without any further delay or excuses. No family should go through the holiday season
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wo
ying about how to pay for their child’s health care or be forced to make choices about whether
or not to see the doctor or go without the medication they need.
Sincerely,
National Organizations
First Focus
1,000 Days
2020 Mom
AASA, The School Superintendents Association
Academic Pediatric Association
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
AFL-CIO
African American Health Alliance
AIDS Alliance for Women, Infants, Children,
Youth & Families
Alliance for Strong Families and Communities
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Art Therapy Association
American Association for Psychoanalysis in
Clinical Social Work
American Association of Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry
American Association of People with Disabilities
American Association of Poison Control Centers
American Association on Health and Disability
American College of Cardiology
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American Dental Education Association
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
American Foundation for the Blind
American Group Psychotherapy Association
American Heart Association
American Lung Association
American Organization of Nurse Executives
American Pediatric Surgical Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Public Health Association
American Thoracic Society
Arthritis Foundation
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare
Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness
Association for Community Affiliated Plans
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health
Organizations (AAPCHO)
Association of Clinicians for the Underserved
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
Association of State and Te
itorial Health Officials
Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal
Nurses
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Autism Business Association
Autism Society of America
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Ba
ett International Technology Incorporated
Boys Town
Brain Injury Association of America
Bread for the World
Catholic Health Association of the United States
Center for Autism and Related Disorders
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Medicare Advocacy
Center for the Study of Social Policy
Centering Healthcare Institute
Child Care Aware of America
Child Welfare League of America
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder
Children's Advocacy Institute
Children's Cause for Cancer Advocacy
Children's Defense Fund
Children's Dental Health Project
Children's Health Fund
Children's Home Society of America
Children's Hospital Association
Children's Leadership Council
Children's Mental Health Network
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Children’s Rights
Circle of Parents
Clinical Social Work Association
Committee for Children
Communities In Schools
Community Catalyst
Coalition on Human Needs
Cooley's Anemia Foundation
Cystic Fi
osis Foundation
Dab the AIDS Bear Project
DentaQuest
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Doctors for America
Early Care and Education Consortium
Earth Evolution
Easterseals
Eating Disorders Coalition
Epilepsy Foundation
Epilepsy Information Service
Every Child Matters
EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases
Families USA
Family Focused Treatment Association
Family Network on Disabilities
Family Voices
Feminist Majority
First Star Institute
Foster Care Alumni Of America
Franciscan Action Network
Futures Without Violence
Generations United
Gesell Institute of Child Development
Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
Girls Inc.
Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social
Justice
Global Justice Institute, Metropolitan Community
Churches
Green & Healthy Homes Initiative
HealthConnect One
Healthy Families America
Healthy Teen Network
HEAR US Inc.
Hemophilia Federation of America
HIV Medicine Association
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters - USA-JPIC
IDEA Infant Toddler Coordinators Association
(ITCA)
Indivisible
Immunization Action Coalition
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Federations of North America
Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Juvenile Law center
Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of
Child Abuse and Neglect
Leadership Team of the Sisters of Charity, BVM
LEAnet
Life Technologies
Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc.
Lupus Foundation of America
Made By Us
March of Dimes
Medicaid Health Plans of America
Mended Little Hearts
Mental Health America
NAACP
National Alliance for Medicaid in Education
National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Association for Bilingual Education
National Association for Children of Addiction
National Association for Children's Behavioral Health
National Association for the Education of Young
Children
National Association of Counsel for Children
National Association of Dental Plans
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
National Association of School Nurses
National Association of Social Workers
National Association of State Head Injury Administrators
National Association of State Mental Health Program
Directors
National Center for Learning Disabilities
National Center for Youth Law
National Center on Adoption and Permanency
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Community Health Centers
National Congress of American Indians
National Council of Jewish Women
National Disability Rights Network
National Education Association
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National Environmental Health Association
National Foster Family-based Treatment Association
National Health Law Program
National Hemophilia Foundation
National Indian Child Care Association
National Juvenile Justice Network
National Korean American Service & Education
Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
National Network for Youth
National Network to End Domestic Violence
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Patient Advocate Foundation
National Physicians Alliance
National Respite Coalition
National WIC Association
National Women's Law Center
Nemours Children's Health System
NETWORK Lo
y for Catholic Social Justice
Nurse-Family Partnership
Oncology Nursing Society
Oral Health America
Parents for Public Schools, Inc
Partnership for America's Children
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
People For the American Way
PICO Center for Health Organizing
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Poligon Education Fund
Power to Decide
Prevent Blindness
Progressive Action Fund
Provincial Council Clerics of St. Viator
Public Advocacy for Kids
Public Citizen
Redstone Global Center for Prevention and
Wellness
Rights4Girls
Rogers Behavioral Health
SchoolHouse Connection
School Social Work Association of America
School-Based Health Alliance
Share Our Strength
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
SocioEnergetics Foundation
Solidarity
Southern Poverty Law Center
SparkAction
Strategies for Youth, Inc.
The AIDS Institute
The American Nepalese Congolese Children's
Foundation
The Arc of the United States
The Children's Cause for Cancer Advocacy
The Children's Village
The National Alliance to Advance Adolescent
Health
The National Indian Education Association
The Sentencing Project
The Stuart Center of the Society of the Sacred Heart
The United Methodist Church - General Board of
Church and Society
Treatment Communities of America
Up
ing Head Start Preschool
UnidosUS
Union for Reform Judaism
United Way Worldwide
Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement,
Inc.
Voices for Progress
W. Haywood Burns Institute
Western Native Voice
Wolf 's Enterprises Human and Civil Rights Advocacy
Wyman Center
Young Invincibles
Youth Advocate Programs (YAP)
Youth Villages
YWCA USA
ZERO TO THREE
ZK Development Solutions
State, Te
itory and Local Organizations
Alabama
American Lung Association in