Healthcare Reform letter template for your Senators

Obtain your US Senators' contact information at this website: http://senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.

Your senators may post their email addresses on their sites, or they may instead have a form available to fill out where you must provide your name and home address information along with your concerns. This is important as it identifies you as their constituent. If there is a form available, you may just want to copy and paste the message portion of this letter into the area of the form for your comments.

Please use the template below for your message to your senator. It is based upon the letter the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) distributed to Senate staffers on Liver Capitol Hill Day. You are free to customize it to suit your specific situation, but the bullet point items are specific to the legislation before the Senate.

{month} {day}, 2009


Hon. {senator full name}
{office number} {building name} Senate Office Building
Washington, DC {zip}

Dear Mr./Ms. {last name},

On March 19, 2009, doctors, researchers and patients met with Senate healthcare staffers on the first Liver Capitol Hill Day to raise awareness of the future cost to our country if the needs of liver disease patients are not met and the rates of liver disease are allowed to rise to epidemic proportions. Considering millions of Americans unknowingly suffer from these conditions, and that for many the only cure will be liver transplant followed by a lifetime of immunosuppression therapy, the cost of screening and preventing these conditions will be far more economical in the long run.

As a liver disease patient, I urge you to support healthcare reform that ensures coverage and access to all Americans to safe, quality care with cost-effective preventive services and access to specialists. Please consider the following principles as you draft reform legislation:

  • Access to high-quality, cost-effective, continuous, patient-centered care for all. Those who are satisfied with their current coverage should be able to keep it, with the choice of the best public or private option.


  • Expanded access to care will cause a greater demand for providers. Support for existing and new training programs is required to insure an adequate workforce of health care professionals.


  • Emphasize wellness and preventive care, rather than treating acute episodes. Disease prevention and coordinated care improve health and reduce costs. Strengthen policies aimed at improving coordination and integration of care enabling providers to function more efficiently and effectively.


  • Health care quality data and measures are needed to address disparities and ensure all patients receive the care they deserve.


  • The physician reimbursement system should properly value the services provided. A system emphasizing prevention and wellness should place more value on services that reduce the number of acute episodes experienced or procedures required.


Yours truly,

{your full name}
{your full address}
{city}, {state} {zip}