The upcoming week is critical for the ACA. Exactly seven years to the day of the Affordable Care Act becoming law, the House of Representatives will be voting to repeal it and replace it with TrumpCare—a plan that would lead to 24 million Americans losing their health care.
Republicans are rushing to get this bill through before the upcoming April recess, ignoring the normal legislative process, because they don’t want to face you, their constituents. They are attempting to ram through a TrumpCare bill that will cut coverage for millions and raise premiums for millions more. Their proposal simultaneously guts Medicaid and gives a $600 billion tax break to the wealthy and corporations.
Millions of lives hang in the balance. The House vote this coming week is the first step towards enactment of this devastating TrumpCare bill. Here’s what you can do to stop it:
- There are millions of young people who don’t know what healthcare insurance was like before Obamacare. Share your story! Tell them how you have benefited from coverage for pre-existing conditions, preventative care without co-pays, or other benefits that you didn’t have before.
- Write to Representative O’Hallaran and thank him for opposing Trumpcare/Ryancare. https://ohalleran.house.gov/contact/email
- Call Senators McCain and Flake and tell them you want to keep Obamacare and extend its benefits (Phone numbers below)
- Send a message to the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact Copy and paste the bullet points below, which list the impact on CD-1, into your message.
- If you can, show up at the district offices of Senators McCain and Flake (addresses below) and speak with their staff.
- Thursday, March 23, is the 7th anniversary of President Obama’s signature, making Obamacare the law of the land. Join a demonstration (at Congressional offices or elsewhere) celebrating the law.
The bullet points summarize what is at stake as Republicans in Congress consider eliminating many of the ACA’s provisions through a process known as budget reconciliation. This process would avoid the Senate filibuster rules. Repeal of the law could endanger the health and welfare of thousands of individuals and their families our Congressional District (AZ-CD 1).
For those who say, “I don’t know anyone who is better off with Obamacare,” look at what’s happened in CD-1. Maybe your circle of friends hasn’t noticed, but here are the facts. Specifically here is what is at risk in the action Congress will attempt to take this week:
- The district’s uninsured rate has gone from 18.3% to 11.5% since the ACA was implemented. This 6.8 percentage point drop in the uninsured rate could be reversed if the ACA is entirely or partially repealed.
- 314,000 individuals in the district who now have health insurance that covers preventive services like cancer screenings and flu shots without any co-pays, coinsurance, or deductibles stand to lose this access if the Republican Congress eliminates ACA provisions requiring health insurers to cover important preventive services without cost-sharing.
- 340,200 individuals in the district with employer-sponsored health insurance are at risk of losing important consumer protections like the prohibition on annual and lifetime limits, protection against unfair policy rescissions, and coverage of preexisting health conditions, if the ACA is entirely or partially repealed.
- 16,100 individuals in the district who have purchased high quality Marketplace coverage now stand to lose their coverage if the Republican Congress dismantles the Marketplaces.
- 13,000 individuals in the district who received financial assistance to purchase Marketplace coverage in 2016 are now at risk of coverage becoming unaffordable if the Republican Congress eliminates the premium tax credits.
- 8,900 individuals in the district who are receiving cost-sharing reductions to lower out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles, co-pays, and coinsurance, are now at risk of health care becoming unaffordable if the Republican Congress eliminates cost-sharing reductions.
- 52,600 individuals in the district who are covered by the ACA’s Medicaid expansion now stand to lose coverage if the Republican Congress eliminates the Medicaid expansion.
Roughly 20 million Americans have gained access to health care through the coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including subsidized coverage through the insurance marketplaces and the ACA’s historic Medicaid expansion. President Trump and congressional Republicans’ plan to repeal the ACA will have devastating effects for all Americans. Eliminating premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions will likely make coverage unaffordable for the 10.4 million Americans enrolled nationwide through the ACA marketplaces as of October 2016. Similarly, eliminating the Medicaid expansion will likely result in coverage becoming unattainable or unaffordable to the more than 14 million Americans who enrolled in the Medicaid expansion since 2014. Additionally, Republican proposals to tax employer-based health coverage could destabilize employer-based coverage and raise taxes on individuals who have health insurance through their employer.
Source: True Cost of Repeal, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Democratic Staff Report based upon statistics drawn from health insurance data collected from sources including the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) and Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE).
Senator Jeff Flake
Washington, D.C. Office
Senate Russell Office Building 413
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-4521
Phoenix Office
2200 East Camelback Road
Suite 120
Phoenix, AZ 85016
602-840-1891
Tucson Office
6840 North Oracle Road
Suite 150
Tucson, AZ 85704
520-575-8633
Also, write an email to his healthcare Legislative Aid:
Senator John McCain
2201 East Camelback Road, Suite 115
Phoenix, AZ 85016
(602) 952-2410
122 North Cortez Street, Suite 108
Prescott, AZ 86301
(928) 445-0833
407 West Congress Street, Suite 103
Tucson, AZ 85701
(520) 670-6334
218 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2235
And write an email to his healthcare Legislative Aid:
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