Sep 01, 2009
Federal legislators track health-care issues with MS advocates
Carla Koss
Delaware’s MS advocates began an unprecedented week of meetings with congressional representatives Tuesday morning when senior staff to U.S. Rep. Michael N. Castle arrived in the Delaware Chapter office of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The senior legislative assistant to Rep. Castle, Olivia C. Kurtz, tracked the health-care issues as voiced by five members of the MS Advocacy Group: Vickie George, Barb Meyer, Carol Ann O’Brien, Darnell Trower, and Marie Eldreth, the chapter’s programs and advocacy coordinator.
The advocates will also meet with the senior staff of U.S. Senator Ted Kaufman and U.S. Sen. Thomas R. Carper before gathering in Governor Jack Markell’s office for the signing into law of the Act to Amend Title 30 of the Delaware Code Relating to Personal Income Tax. Known as HB 191 for short, the act creates a check-off for Delaware taxpayers who want to designate contributions to the Delaware Chapter of the National MS Society.
“We will cap this week of meetings,” smiles Marie Eldreth, “with the enactment of HB 191. We’re quite proud of our effort on this issue, but we’re not resting on our laurels. The goal of this week is to gain the ear of each of our federal legislators. We intend to define the Society’s National Health Care Reform Principles and ask for the congressmen’s support for the Affordable Access to Prescription Medications Act [S. 1630] and the National MS and Parkinson’s Disease Registries Act [S. 1273]. The reason? We want to help meet the wide range of health-care needs of more than 1,500 Delawareans with a debilitating and unpredictable disease.”
For more information, call (302) 655-5610, or visit www.MSdelaware.org.
About multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often-disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS.
Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50 with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and more than 2.1 million worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving; the National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. In 2007 alone, through our home office and 50-state network of chapters, we devoted more than $136 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested more than $50 million to support 440 research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS—NOW. Join the Movement at www.nationalMSsociety.org.
Early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis. Learn about the options by talking to a health-care professional and then contacting the National MS Society at www.nationalMSsociety.org or at 800-FIGHT-MS (800-344-4867). In Delaware, call (302) 655-5610. Or visit www.MSdelaware.org.