Dear Friends,
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and I hope you get a chance to spend some time with your family and friends next week. It’s a great time to count our blessings and remember the importance of family and sharing as we enter the 2009 Holiday season.
HEALTH CARE REFORM VOTE – While the House passed historic health care insurance reform legislation Nov. 7, the Senate likely will take up the debate further after the Thanksgiving break. For more on the House legislation, visit the Health Care page of my Web site. For the Senate’s version, click here.
MEDICARE PHYSICIAN PAYMENT REFORM ACT – This week, I voted to preserve seniors’ access to their doctors by fixing the way Medicare pays physicians. The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act will permanently reform the Medicare payment system, repealing a 21 percent cut in payments to doctors scheduled to take place in January and replacing it with a stable system that protects seniors, disabled patients as well as our military families covered under TRICARE. This fix preserves patients’ relationships with their doctors and promotes primary care. For more, click here.
DISASTER RELIEF DEADLINE – Monday, Nov. 23, is the last day residents can apply for flood assistance. Georgians should register for assistance on the Web at www. DisasterAssistance.gov; or by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362), or TTY 800-462-7585. The toll-free numbers are staffed seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have taken more than 27,000 applications for federal assistance.
SBA LOANS DEADLINE – Nov. 23 also is the last day to return applications for low-interest loans from the SBA, which has already approved $42 million in loans to flood survivors. The last day flood survivors can get help with SBA loans or FEMA Individual Assistance programs is Monday at Browns Mill Recreation Center, 5101 Browns Mill Road, Lithonia, 30058; or in Gwinnett County at Mountain Park, 5050 Five Forks Trickum Road, Lilburn, 30047. For more, click here.
FLOOD INSURANCE – In September, only about 14,000 flood insurance policies were in effect in the 17-county designated area. That means a lot of Georgians and Fourth District residents were not adequately protected. This year’s rains have shown us that floods can occur anywhere, anytime with little or no warning. Low-to-moderate-risk policies cost about $287 a year, which would provide $100,000 of insurance on the house and $40,000 for contents. A policy in a Special Flood Hazard Area costs about $1,577 a year, which would provide $100,000 of insurance on the building and $50,000 on the contents. For more, click here.
H1N1 VACCINES – The DeKalb County Board of Health’s Office of Emergency Preparedness will host an H1N1 vaccination clinic on Saturday, Nov., 21 at the former campus of DeVry Institute at 250 North Arcadia Road in Decatur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A vaccine supply of 2,500 injected doses will be administered to people in priority risk groups. The priority groups are:
– Pregnant women
– Healthcare and emergency medical staff with direct patient care
– People who live with or care for infants younger than 6 months
– Anyone from 6 months to 24 years of age and
–Anyone from 25 to 64 years who has a medical condition.
For more information, call (404) 508-7880.
Please e-mail me with your thoughts and feedback any time. As always, I value your input and ideas. Thank you,
Rep. Hank Johnson
Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District