Help Us Continue the Momentum and Roll Back Albany's Cuts – PRINT Attached Posters and Display in Your Stores
Help Stop the Pharmacy Cuts: 3 Easy Steps

www.protectpharmacypatients.org

Campaign Progress - If you have already joined the fight to roll back the devastating state pharmacy cuts, thank you. If you have not done so already, please visit the Protect Pharmacy Patients Coalition website to download and print a poster that you can display in your store and postcards for your patients to fill out and send to us for legislators. They are now available in both English and Spanish and more languages are coming soon. You can download print-ready files here.

Momentum continues to build: already, over 800 cards from pharmacies like yours have poured in and they are making a difference. These will be hand-delivered to legislators when they return to session next week. Also, keep an eye out for more press conferences and advertising about the cuts.

Now is the time to keep this amazing pace up! As you turn your pharmacy into an Action Center to mobilize patients, let us know how things are going by emailing info@protectpharmacypatients.org.

Need Help?
If you have any questions, just email info@protectpharmacypatients.org.

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6/24/08 Update:

Dear Members:

Last week we kicked off the Protect Pharmacy Patients campaign with a coalition of pharmacists, organizations and health advocates who are calling on Albany to roll back the pharmacy budget cuts – the most severe cuts ever imposed on pharmacy in New York. Many pharmacists have already stepped up to the plate to help. We are starting to make our voices heard:

• NY1, the most watched New York City news channel for political insiders, covered our rally in front of the Governor's office. Watch it here:
• The Albany Times-Union, the Capitol's main daily paper wrote a great story about the impacts that the cuts will have on community pharmacies and patients. Read it here:
• TV Stations in Albany (CBS Channel 6 and ABC Channel 10), along with others around the state like CBS Channel 12 in Binghamton, and ABC Channel 9 in Syracuse are also talking about the cuts. See the Syracuse Channel 9 piece here:
• The Associated Press (AP) also ran an article and AP stories get carried in newspapers and online news sites all across the country. You can read the story here:

We will keep up the momentum but we need your help! Above are electronic files that we need you to take to a local print shop (like Kinko's) and print and display in your stores. We have posters to display and postcards for your patients to fill out and send back to us. We need to show the Governor and the Legislature that they need to roll back these cuts!

Here are the detailed instructions:

Help Stop the Pharmacy Cuts: 3 Easy Steps

Governor Paterson and the state legislature imposed devastating pharmacy cuts starting July 1st – cuts that will hurt our most vulnerable: working families relying on Medicaid, seniors relying on EPIC, and patients suffering from HIV/AIDS. These are the deepest cuts in state history – putting New York dead last in the nation for supporting pharmacy patients. Your patients represent an important voice in the fight. Using these materials, you can make sure Albany hears from them.

1. Print the posters and cards.

• There are two files – one for a 11"x17" poster and one for small postcards. Bring these electronic files to a local print shop (like Kinko's). You can either email them directly to your print shop, or save to a CD or memory stick and bring them with you. Your print shop can walk you through the process if you have any problems. You can download print-ready files here.
• For the Poster – Ask the print shop to make at least two color copies of the poster to be printed on 11" x 17" cardstock. (Two is the minimum recommended, but print more if you can.)
• For the Postcards – Ask the print shop to print the postcards in color, double-sided, on card stock and cut in half. The file is set up so that there will fit two postcards per regular size 8 ½"x11" paper. Please print about 100 pages, which will make 200 cards when cut in half. And of course, feel free to make more.

2. Display them in your pharmacy and encourage patients to fill them out.

• In a high-visibility, high-traffic area in your pharmacy, display one copy of the poster along with a supply of the cards. Be sure to have a container (such as a shoebox) to collect cards as they are filled out.
• Place one copy of the poster in your storefront window or near the main entrance. Post more copies of the poster around the store as needed.

3. Collect and send the responses

• Each week, collect the cards filled out by your customers and mail them to the Protect Pharmacy Patients campaign. The cards will be forwarded to the appropriate policymakers
• Please mail the cards each week to:
  Protect Pharmacy Patients
  137 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
  New York, NY 10010