April 21, 2008

Dear Member of Congress:

On behalf of RetireSafe’s nearly 400,000 senior citizen supporters across America, we strongly urge you support Health IT legislation and ensure its passage as soon as possible. More than one in ten Americans is age 65 or over and they deserve the very best health care. We can never aspire to achieve the best health care for our seniors (and everyone else) until Health IT is enacted.

Unfortunately, the American health care system lacks the necessary technology for doctors and other providers to instantly review medical records from any location, easily confer with one another, and stay in better touch with their patients.

Such a system, of course, is called health information technology (Health IT). Before it can be deployed, Congress must pass legislation to establish a federal foundation for it.

That’s why I am writing to you: to ask you to vote for passage of health IT legislation during this congressional term and to sign and return the enclosed pledge affirming your support.

At RetireSafe, we work for solutions to America’s retirement security challenges, including health care. Health IT will be an especially valuable improvement to our health care system. Health IT will significantly reduce the nearly 100,000 annual deaths caused by medical errors. And the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notes that the adoption of electronic medical records could reduce health care spending by up to 30 percent.

We urge you to sign the Health IT Now! Coalition pledge and work for passage during this congressional term.

Health IT is one of those rare issues that enjoy broad bipartisan support—by any measure this is an “easy victory” for all Americans. But Congress must act to make it happen.

We urge you to sign and return the Health IT Now! Coalition pledge and support the passage of Health IT in this Session of this Congress. The time for action is now!

Sincerely,

Michelle Plasari
President