Trump and the Republican Congress Will Destroy Our Health Care System.
Save the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and Medicare
Congress and the Trump Administration have already begun dismantling the three pillars of the American health care safety net. Last week 51 Republicans in the Senate voted to eliminate the subsidies and all the protections of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); the House quickly ratified this destructive budget bill. Speaker Paul Ryan has vowed to dismantle Medicaid as part of the ACA repeal and promises that as soon as this spring Congress will privatize Medicare. If they are successful 10s of millions will lose heath insurance altogether and upwards of 150 million Americans will receive fewer benefits while everyone will pay much more for health care.
The attack on the ACA is just the first phase of the Republican assault on the health care system. If you get insurance through work or through Medicare, this battle will shape the kind and quality of insurance that you will get in the future. The ACA, Medicare, Medicaid and employment based insurance are all linked. If Republicans eliminate the ACA, 10 to 30 million people will lose their insurance immediately but people who get their health insurance through work will also pay more for less coverage.
The Affordable Care Act is a success – for the first time in American history virtually every American has the right and ability to get affordable health care insurance. The ACA guarantees that the insurance we pay for covers our health needs. The Republican attack on the health care system will make health care harder to get and more expensive for every American. There are some problems with the program and those problems need to be fixed, but this crucial program should not be repealed.
ACT NOW:
- Find out how the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and Medicare affect you, your family and friends. You may or may not get health insurance through the ACA but you know people who do. Talk to your friends and family and ask them what happens when the ACA is repealed. Where will they get insurance? Do they have a pre-existing condition that would allow an insurance company to deny them coverage or charge them ultra high premiums? How will they pay for the benefits that Republicans want to eliminate – birth control, family planning services, maternity care, immunizations and well care check ups?
- Call both your Representative and your Senators – demand that they develop a complete replacement for the Affordable Care Act before they vote on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. For phone numbers go to www.callmycongress.com.
- Tell them:
- Fix the ACA; don’t repeal it.
- The full benefits of the ACA should be extended to all the states including the 19 states that have refused the Medicaid expansion subsidies.
- Guarantee that everyone can get affordable insurance regardless of so-called pre-existing conditions. (52 million Americans have a disqualifying pre-existing condition.)
- Subsidies for affordable insurance are essential. Everyone deserves medical insurance not just the wealthy.
- The bill must include full coverage of women’s reproductive health needs including mammograms, contraception, pap smears and maternity care.
- All policies must cover addiction and mental health treatment.
- There must be NO limits on lifetime coverage.
- Tell them:
Join one of the Women’s Marches on Washington on Saturday, January 21st or attend one of the 386 Sister Marches around the country. Everyone is welcome to join in a show of solidarity against the Trump Administration. Find the closest march near you at https://www.womensmarch.com/sisters/