After a week of bluster and baloney, Donald Trump, Paul Ryan and the House Republicans surrendered without a vote in the battle to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They failed because of an overwhelming outpouring of opposition to their flawed, deadly replacement plan - 100s of thousands of phone calls, emails and postcards; packed town halls; and the widespread sharing of personal stories of how the Affordable Care Act makes Americans’ lives more healthy, financially stable and safe.
Now President Trump says that the Affordable Care Act will explode and he will blame the Democratic Party. This is nonsense. The ACA is not about to explode but it is seven years old and it needs some patches. Now is the time to show some bi-partisan leadership.
The ACA/Obamacare is basically stable throughout urban areas and larger counties but in more rural areas there has been a problem with getting insurance companies to offer plans. This happened because for years the Republican Congress has refused to make simple changes in the original law in hopes of slowly destroying it.
There are a variety of ways to fix the current problems just as Congress fixed similar issues with Medicare in 2003. The marketplaces will function well if Congress provides adequate Medicaid support, somewhat more generous subsidies outside of Medicaid, and provides a public option available throughout the country.
Call to Action
Call the White House: tell Donald Trump that the ACA is the law of the land and it is President Trump’s responsibility to make it work - stop blaming Democrats and work with them to fix the health care system. Above all, tell him not to undermine the ACA through executive orders or regulations that cut subsidies to low-income citizens.
Call your Representatives and Senators and tell them 1) “thank you for stopping the runaway train” called the American Health Care Act and 2) insist that they must fix the insurance marketplaces - provide adequate support to Medicaid, more generous subsidies and a public option available to all.
Find your Representatives’ phone numbers here and see our updated recommendations on How to Make a Political Phone Call
Coming Up: On Tuesday April 4, the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, nation wide demonstrations are being organized by a new coalition of Black Lives Matter and Fight for $15. Called "Fight Racism, Raise Pay", this joining of civil rights and economic rights groups is an important turning point in our resistance to the Trump/Republican Agenda. If there is a demonstration in your community join in this historic event.