Thank you for all you have done so far to speak out against some U.S. members of Congress’ plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and make major, damaging changes to Medicaid and Medicare. I don’t have to tell you that, if these changes succeed, our families’ healthcare will suffer.
But moms, dads, and concerned people are speaking out! All your stories and letters to Congress are truly making a difference—elected leaders are taking notice! MomsRising staff and volunteers even got a special shout out and round of applause for all we (and YOU!) are doing from members of Congress who are supporting healthcare.
We can’t let up! We need you to continue to speak out for quality, affordable healthcare!!
The clock is ticking for us to raise our voices. Now is a critical time to make our voices heard in our local newspapers. The U.S. Congress is back on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. this week and some Senators are already talking about moving ahead with plans to roll back advances in healthcare coverage and gut current healthcare programs. They need to know that families back in their state and district are standing up, taking notice, and are expecting them to protect the coverage gains we’ve made in recent years. We need to increase the visibility of this issue and put pressure on Congress to truly support the healthcare of millions of families.
You taking a moment to write a Letter to the Editor now will send a strong signal to Congress that their constituents are concerned about the future of our healthcare. Plus: Members of Congress pay special attention to their local newspapers!
This is important. Here’s what’s at risk: A new independent study from the Urban Institute confirms that repealing the ACA without a replacement plan will leave tens of millions of Americans—almost 30 million people—without the security of health coverage. Because of the chaotic ripple effect of repealing the Affordable Care Act, a higher rate of Americans will be uninsured than before the ACA was passed in 2010. In addition, many of us will be affected if the wonderful advances the ACA made are repealed like being allowed to keep our adult children on our health insurance until age 26, no longer being denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and free preventative services like well-child visits, mammograms, and cancer screenings. Proposed changes to Medicaid and Medicare are additionally frightening because they could lead to the loss or reduction of healthcare of millions on vulnerable communities, including low-income families, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, preemie babies, and seniors.
Believe it or not the repeal of the ACA could also lead to a raise in our taxes. Millions of people who purchase their own insurance would see an increase in their taxes by more than $3,000 by abolishing healthcare tax credits. At the same time hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks would be made to wealthy, insurance companies while eliminating tax credits for working families. This is NOT okay. It hurts our families, businesses, and economy.
We need to loudly speak out against all of this and make our voices heard in our local newspapers!
Don’t worry—sending the Letter to the Editor is super easy! When you click on the link above, we’ll lead you through a quick process to write a Letter to the Editor to your local newspaper. This tool is pretty magical—you can easily edit our pre-drafted letter, if you wish (inserting your personal story if you have one!), and send it to your paper with just a few clicks.
The pre-drafted letter (which you can edit when you click through to the link!) is logical, concise, and simply says:
“In these uncertain times, working families value the safety and security of health coverage more than ever. Some members of Congress are currently discussing making major changes to our core health system in the United States—including repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a replacement and making major, damaging changes to Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare.
Repealing the ACA alone would leave tens of millions of Americans—almost 30 million people—without the security of health coverage and affect millions more who have benefited greatly from the new law through improvements such as free preventative care and people with pre-existing conditions no longer being denied coverage.
In order to keep our families safe and our economy and communities healthy we must have quality, affordable healthcare!”
After you click the link to send your Letter to the Editor, please forward this email to friends—and also post the action link on Facebook and Twitter. The more of us who send letters, the bigger the impact we’ll have in protecting our healthcare and our families.
**Don’t forget to take a moment to send a Letter to the Editor to your local paper now.
Thank you for being a strong voice for our families’ health and future!
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