It’s working!

Your calls, letters, signatures, stories, visits and loud, outraged voices are helping to slow down (and hopefully stop!) the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and massive cuts to Medicaid! U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was trying to rush his terrible, horrible, no good “health care” (really, wealth care) bill, The Better Care Reconciliation Act/Trumpcare, through the U.S. Senate before the 4th of July recess, but on Tuesday he said he was delaying the vote because he doesn’t have support.

But to be very, very clear: We have won a very small battle—not the war. This is just a delay. They are going to rewrite some of the bill in an attempt to build support from key senators and schedule a vote in the coming weeks so we can’t let up! We need to keep speaking out for our families’ health care!

Next week U.S. Senators will be back in their districts for the July 4th recess and we want to flood them with messages from every direction that their constituents are strongly opposed to the terrible Republican healthcare bill. 

KEY ACTION FOR TODAY! ***Can you help speak out for quality, affordable health care and send a Letter to the Editor to your local newspaper? (Don’t worry—we’ve made it very easy for you. Just click on the link and we’ll walk you through the whole process)

Letters that are submitted this week to your local newspapers are likely to be published next week when U.S. Senators are back in their home states.  Perfect timing!  U.S. Senators and their staff pay close attention to letters to the editor in local newspapers as a way to gauge the opinions of constituents. 

They need to hear from YOU—those most impacted by their health care bill.

We’ve got to keep the pressure on! Senate Republican Leadership said they are going to make adjustments to their bill and then will schedule a vote when the Senators get back to Washington, D.C. after the recess. To be clear—this bill is NOT salvageable—there isn’t any tinkering that could be done that could make this bill good for our families  We need to tell them to vote, “No!”

Your voice is needed to let your Senators know that families back in their home state are standing up, taking notice, and are expecting them to protect the coverage gains we’ve made in recent years— and that the destructive Better Care Reconciliation Act hurts our families and economy. We need to increase the visibility of this issue and put pressure on the U.S. Senate to truly support the healthcare of millions of families.

This is an emergency. You taking a moment to write a Letter to the Editor now will send a strong and swift signal to Congress that their constituents are concerned about the future of our health care. Plus: Senators pay special attention to their local newspapers!

**Join me in writing a Letter to the Editor on health care to your local newspaper now!

Here is why it’s so important to speak out right now: The provisions included in the destructive Better Care Reconciliation Act would threaten the health and wellbeing of women, children, families, and our economy. By getting rid of the successful Affordable Care Act and replacing it with the Senate proposal, protection for people with pre-existing conditions (like pregnancy, diabetes, c-sections, breast cancer, or even asthma) would be gutted. And the requirement for insurance providers to cover essential health benefits (like co-pay free birth control, annual exams, child well-visits, maternity coverage) could be removed.

The Better Care Reconciliation Act/Trumpcare would also make massive spending cuts and structural changes to Medicaid. By taking away the decades old cost-sharing agreement between states and the federal government and shifting the cost of Medicaid on to the states, our government will be forced to make cuts that will end up reducing Medicaid coverage, services, or provider reimbursement rates. In the end, the people most affected are our most vulnerable communities: low-income families, pregnant women, people with disabilities, the elderly, rural communities, LGBTQ families, and communities of color — in particular Black, Latinx, Asian, and Native American families.

On top of all of that, the U.S. Senate proposal would also effectively end the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion— an incredibly successful program in the 32 states, including D.C., where the program has been expanded. These states have seen boosts to job growth and state economies, and millions more adults who were previously uninsured have been able to receive health care coverage. These impacts would be particularly severe for women of color and women in rural areas. In fact, Medicaid has long played an even larger role in providing health coverage and paying for care in rural areas than in urban areas. Nearly 1.7 million rural Americans have newly gained coverage through the Medicaid expansion, many of them women.

We need to loudly speak out against all of this and make our voices heard in our local newspapers!  We need to protect health care!

**Will you join me in speaking out for quality, affordable health care and sending a Letter to the Editor NOW!?

This bill is unpopular and unacceptable. Only 17% of those polled this week said they support the Better Care Reconciliation Act. U.S. families want our elected leaders to strengthen our health care system, not take away the vital protections and programs our families depend on for health and wellness.

Which is why we need your voice! By sending a Letter to the Editor you are speaking up for all of our families in a high-impact, highly visible way.

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:

“Written in secret, the U.S. Senate leadership is rushing through the Better Care Reconciliation Act/Trumpcare, which would have dire effects on the health of our families and the stability of our economy.

Here are the facts: The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 22 million people would lose insurance under this bill. It would give giant tax breaks to billionaires, while taking healthcare away from women and children, communities of color, people in rural areas, people with disabilities, and the elderly. The plan obliterates the Affordable Care Act and proposes a weak replacement that would make health insurance less affordable, less accessible, and less comprehensive. It would even allow insurance companies to charge older Americans five times more for coverage than everyone else. On top of that, the BCRA slashes federal Medicaid funding, which funds nearly half the births in the U.S., healthcare for 10 million people with disabilities, and 70% of nursing home care. Our state’s budget would be crushed with the cost of trying to cover these critical needs. 

No wonder this bill is already wildly unpopular. A recent NPR/PBS poll found that only 17% of Americans approve of this bill. I am not one of them!

Our families, our state, and our economy can’t afford the Senate’s healthcare plan!

In order to keep our families safe and our economy and communities healthy we must have quality, affordable healthcare. I am calling on our Senators to return to Washington, D.C. and do their job: protect our families’ healthcare!”

After you click the link to send your Letter to the Editor, please forward this blog 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 health care 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 continuing to speak out during this long battle for our health care. It’s because of people like you that we are winning this fight!

P.S. Are you looking for something else to do next week in your state on health care? Join in one of the events our partner organization are holding. You can check them out here.