Heroin Addiction has plagued my life and I know personally that the users are not criminals. The use of Heroin is a disease that is a means to self-heal. With Heroin Health Reform, alternative methods for healing can occur and the structure of the Heroin trade can be undermined from within.

It drives me crazy that a faulty system is being used to mandate whether a child should be lumped into a category of weight at a time when they are extremely vulnerable and aware of their physical selves.

As a provider of case management services, I have experienced first hand how vital these services can be to members of our community. Case management services can prevent or shorten the time someone is homeless, ensure vulnerable members of our communities are fed and assist the recipients' of services so that they are able to develop the skills to live an independent and fulfilling life. The proposed changes to Section 17 would limit access to case management, skills development, day supports and other vital services. It is imperative that these services not be reduced to a specific vulnerable population and are available to those who need it.

The Medicare Telehealth Parity Act will remove geographic barriers and expand the list of health care providers eligible to provide reimbursable services for underserved communities in both rural and urban areas. Respiratory therapists will be able to apply best practices already being used in their hospitals to improve patient care and disease management, minimize wasteful and costly interventions and reduce hospital readmission rates via telehealth medicine.

OD'S continue daily with NO community intervention by the city. We were informed that 12 OD'S in one day happen last week. We see no Advocate on the city side to network in the community. No REAL PLAN.

Addiction is a devastating disease that affects 1/3 of all American households. Opiate overdose deaths are at epidemic levels. We must help save lives by carrying naloxone, a life-saving overdose reversal drug.

As a person in long-term recovery, our community treatment providers played an essential role in saving my life. We should be supporting them - and supporting recovery! People without insurance also deserve access to treatment. Taking money from treatment providers and giving it to HMOs would be a death sentence for those who cannot afford health insurance. Under-served populations are not expendable. With the proper support, we do recover!

Please support proposed NY State MITO legislation S3250/ A5174

Simon was a living, breathing human being, who brought incredible joy to his family…he did NOT deserve to die. On September 7, 2010, Simon was born with a bilateral cleft lip. 3 days later, he was officially diagnosed with “Full Trisomy 18,” also known as Edward’s syndrome. His parents wanted Simon to have every opportunity to thrive and survive. Someone else decided Simon’s life didn’t have value. Care was withheld. Simon was given only "comfort feedings" which basically means he was slowly starving to death. A Do-Not-Resusitate (DNR) order was placed in his chart, without his parents' knowledge or consent. Ultimately, his parents wishes and cries for help were ignored. We want to make sure this doesn’t happen to another child. In our opinion, no one loves their child more than their parent and only the parents should have the right to make those life or death decisions. Simon’s Law will protect the rights of parents concerning any life-sustaining medical choices for their minor children. So if your child suffers life threatening injuries only you, as their parents, would have the right to make those decisions regarding life or death instead of a medical professional, a stranger, you just met for the first time. We are asking you to please support Federal Bill similar to Missouri's HB 1915 - Simon’s Law. After all, shouldn’t every child have the opportunity to thrive and survive?

When I gave birth to my first child, the staff at The Birthing Center at Memorial Hospital offered me more than rote medical care. They held my hand, rubbed my back, and looked me in the eyes. Every staff member I encountered knew my name and respected my choices. Through the exceptional care I received during my labor, I came to believe in myself. You can't put a price tag on that kind of family-centered, evidence-based care. My family has learned that Care New England (CNE) is considering closing the Birthing Center at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island (MHRI). We are horrified and angered that CNE would prioritize financial interests over the care of the families it serves. The Birthing Center provides patients from diverse communities and backgrounds respectful, high quality, and evidence-based care. It serves local families from Pawtucket and Central Falls (including women and babies at highest risk for poor health outcomes due to economic and racial healthcare disparities), alongside educated urban elites, including some who cross state borders because of the Birthing Center’s reputation. The Birthing Center staff cares for tenured Ivy League professors, medical professionals, women recently immigrated, incarcerated women and local high school students with the same deep respect and compassionate care regardless of income or education. We urge you to prioritize the high quality care being provided to some of the state’s most marginalized families at MHRI over the potential cost savings of service consolidation. We urge you to recognize that the Birthing Center at MHRI is the choice of many of the most privileged and educated families in our state. Closing the Birthing Center would do a monumental disservice to RI women and families. MHRI is the only hospital in the state that implements the principles of Mother-Friendly care, as outlined in the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services' Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative. MHRI has an unwavering commitment to normal physiologic birth, skilled support for vaginal births after cesarean (VBAC), groundbreaking and now well-established Gentle Cesarean, and consistently respectful and individualized care. This model of care cannot be found in any other hospital in our state; it is the result of countless years of focused effort and the commitment of an interdisciplinary team of birth professionals. The impact of the Birthing Center at MHRI reaches far beyond the borders of RI. As the training site for Brown University’s Maternal Child Health Fellowship, the Birthing Center at MHRI provides family medicine physicians with nationally recognized and respected supplementary training in high-risk obstetrics within a community-centered model of care. Its graduates both serve our nation’s most vulnerable women and children in physician shortage areas, and work to overcome health care disparities affecting families of color and those living in poverty. In light of this, to close the Birthing Center is to abolish CNE’s most historically enduring, unwavering example of life-saving maternity care to underserved populations. Please understand that those of us afforded the privilege to do so will travel considerable distances to obtain high-quality, compassionate, evidence-based and family-centered care – the kind of care that ALL families deserve. Should the Birthing center be closed, we will work to be sure that all families understand their rights and options in choosing maternity care. If CNE does not value the Birthing Center, it does not value me. It does not value its patients - as women and men, as mothers and fathers, as engaged citizens, and as consumers of health care services. If CNE does not value its patients, then it will lose them. If the Board decides to put profits over patients, I will obtain all possible medical care for my family outside of the CNE system. I urge you to reconsider any plans for closure.

I currently work in local news and this process has been on my radar ever since Gov. Branstad started it months ago. I currently work in local news and this process has been on my radar ever since Governor Branstad started it months ago. Our county supervisors say it's a bad idea, our county healthcare providers say it's a bad idea (50% have not signed with any of the private companies), people that receive the care say its a bad idea, and our citizens say it's a bad idea. Please help us to stop the victimization of our most vulnerable citizens and either toss this whole concept out or at least give us more time! I talked to senator Chuck Grassley and he backs the governor on the basis that since New York is "doing well" with their privatization we can do well too. The critical difference is that New York had years to prepare for this and assure the best care. As for Iowa? About 4 months. Please Help us in this critical time! The Iowa Senate is on board; now let's get the House and Gov. Branstad on board, too!

Over half a million people in Iowa are presently covered under Medicaid. Their care is a paramount concern of all Iowans.