[Mrfnews] (no subject)

[mrfnews at mrf.org]

HIPAA Loophole Fix UPDATE

The Motorcycle Riders Foundation reports that legislation to close the
loophole that
allows insurance providers to discriminate against motorcyclists when it
comes to fully
funding all benefits is beginning to gain some momentum. The House bill
(HR 1076) has 45
co-sponsors, while the Senate bill (S 616) has 3 co-sponsors. As a rule,
Senators don’t
co-sponsor legislation as frequently as their House counterparts. However,
that certainly
does not mean we should not ask them at every opportunity.

“The impressive part of the list of House co-sponsors is that over half of
them are
Representatives from states that sent SMRO grassroots lobbyists to DC this
year,”
said Jeff Hennie, Vice President of Government Relations for the
Motorcycle Riders
Foundation (MRF). "I would like to give a huge thanks all of our SMRO
partners that
have lobbied this important legislation." Hennie added.

Over the past few months MI, WA, WI, NM, NY, NJ, OH, PA, CO, IA, AK, MN,
and IL have all
sent representatives from their respective State Motorcyclists’ Rights
Organizations to
Washington DC to lobby for the advancement of this issue.  Those visits
resulted in over
200 individual, sit-down office meetings with Senators, House Members and
staff.

US Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX), the bill sponsor, had this to
say, “No one
should be denied health insurance benefits because they prefer to drive a
motorcycle. It
is essential to provide health care benefits to those who have slipped
through the
loophole by protecting their access to substantive health care.”