Action Alert: Help Deliver ADA Message on Health Care Reform to Congress

Help Deliver ADA Message on Health Care Reform to Congress

Action Alert: September 9, 2009

In the 60-year history of trying to pass health care legislation, there may be no more important month than September 2009. The Congress has been working all year trying to draft legislation that reins in the skyrocketing cost of health care, provides coverage to all Americans and improves the quality of care provided.

ADA supports those efforts.

Late last week, ADA President Jessie Pavlinac, MS, RD, CSR, LD, sent a letter to President Obama highlighting ADA’s concerns and stressing the importance of transforming our "sick care" system into a true "health care" organization. She wrote: "There is a high price to be paid when nutrition is not made central to the nation's health policies. Individuals and society are burdened with huge personal and economic costs of malnutrition in all its forms. Yet the shocking truth is that the United States is a nation of overfed and undernourished people."

ADA is now asking all members to help deliver our message to Congress. The message is straightforward: Health reform must focus on prevention and recognize the unique and vital role that nutrition plays in the prevention and management of many chronic diseases. Legislation that fails to make prevention the focal point of reform is insufficient.

ACT NOW... TODAY! THIS IS THE WEEK THAT MOST MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE WILL TAKE A POSITION ON HEALTH REFORM LEGISLATION. NOW IS WHEN WE CAN HAVE THE MAXIMUM IMPACT.

You can act by calling your Representative and Senators and leaving a message, or you can send them an e-mail. Call the US Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121 and ask for your senator's and/or representative's office.

If you do not know who are your Representative or Senators are, you can find them online:

If you would prefer to send an e-mail, use ADA’s Grassroots Manager:

  • Ensure you are logged on to the eatright.org Web site
  • Go to the "Advocacy and the Profession" page
  • Select "Grassroots Manager" on the left side
  • If prompted, re-enter your ADA member number and password
  • Select the "Take Action" tab
  • Select the letter titled "Letter to Congress on Health Care Reform"
  • Select your member of Congress
  • The letter will open. Feel free to add in your own personal statements at the beginning or the end of the letter
  • Select "send electronically"
  • Your letter will be sent via e-mail. If it cannot be sent electronically, you can print the letter and fax it to your representatives.

If you have any trouble sending your letter, please contact Jennifer Teters at jteters@eatright.org.