Fed Lyme bill stuck in committee. Help us “unstick” it!
The federal Lyme bill – S. 1503 – sponsored by Senator Blumenthal to create a Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Advisory Panel, is stuck in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, with only a few days left to “unstick” it.
We have gotten this far, and we need to turn to the community again to ask for you to make another round of calls. This is important!
PLEASE call your TWO US Senators (find numbers here) and tell them you are calling to ask their support of S. 1503, the Lyme bill, and ask them to urge Senator Alexander, Chairman of the HELP Committee, to add the Lyme bill’s language to the Medical Innovation legislation his committee has been working on.
(If you live in Tennessee, tell Sen. Alexander’s office you want him to add the Lyme bill’s language to the Medical Innovation legislation his committee is working on.)
Add anything you want about your personal story.
That is all you need to do, and it will be a huge help.
THE BACKSTORY
Senate Bill S.1503 offers the best chance we’ve ever had to have our advocates, scientists, doctors, and patients heard in a policy-making environment at the federal level. This legislation is critical to our Lyme community, yet right now it’s at an impasse in the U.S. Senate. We need to create a surge of calls and letters to all our senators this week so they know Lyme disease is important to us and that we want them to pass this legislation.
Our best shot at getting our bill passed at this point is to get the language into a bigger health bill the Senate is working on by adding our language as an amendment.
We need your senators to ask Senator Lamar Alexander to add the Lyme language to the Medical Innovations legislation before it’s too late!
A similar effort was successful in the U.S. House of Representatives last July, so with forceful public pressure, we know this can work. But we need this public surge right now, this week.
Passing big bills takes a big effort. Even if you have contacted your senators before, PLEASE CONTACT THEM AGAIN. (It’s the “squeaky wheel” principle in action. Once is never enough.)
When you call, you will talk to an aide in your senator’s office. Here’s a suggestion for what to say:
“Hello, I am a constituent and I’m calling to express my support for The Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act, Senate Bill 1503. I urge the Senator to ask Senator Alexander, Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, to add the Lyme bill’s language as an amendment to the medical innovation bill his committee has been working on. Thank you.”
You can tell the aide more about your experience with Lyme if you want. Be respectful — remember we are asking for their help. We NEED their help!
Read more about the bill here. Read blogs on the 18-year history of efforts to pass Lyme legislation here.
Please be on the lookout for future alerts for this important legislation. We hope our next message will be to announce our success, but if not, be ready to make more calls.
This Call to Action is being supported by Lyme organizations around the country. Thank you for your help!
DONE! called iowa’s 2 senators plus gave each office the results of my late husband’s brain autopsy results making WORLDWIDE history!!
borrelia/lyme disease and lewy body dementia causing violent hallucinations like robin williams had
his case is being written up and i’m still waiting to hear which scientific medical journal it will be submitted to … those which ARE accepting articles!!
thanks for the update and the link finding each of our state’s 2 phone nos. quickly! done in 5 minutes since i added my personal stories of jack/my having CHRONIC LYME 82 yrs. in our lives!
bettyg, iowa activist
Yes, I am doing this now. WE need help!!! I live in Colorado. WE have Bebesia in our family, a tick born disease. We don’t have lyme, but this has been very difficult to get the appropriate help that we need, especially since we have been sick and therefore had to be on Medicaid. The doctors that help with this typically can’t take insurance or Medicaid. This is horrible. Thank you for letting me know about this. I am contacting my Congressmen now in an email.
Done! I called my Senators in Colorado. WE need help with this issue desperately. Our family has been greatly impacted. Thank you for notifying us about this!
Message sent to our Delaware reps and hoping this is the charm. We need to assistance as the health payers do not support the true and required treatment needed to Lyme related suffers spending years trying to get well. The tick-borne disease is like a plague if signs are not noticed within days and treatment to start right away. Most initial infected suffers never see their infected caused “bulleye” rash and go on months as the disease builds up and take over the human body. This a growing epidemic and the CDC does want to alarm the public. You do not have to be a forest hiker..the popy seed size ticks are in your background with the deer and your dog or cat can bring it into your home!
Taking care of Louisiana.
i just called leaving a message on alexander’s ANSWERING MACHINE now at midnight 😉
bettyg, iowa