Beyond calling our senators, what can we do to stop this cruel healthcare bill?

The Republicans want you to believe that their plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act is dead. They want to slip in below the radar and take one more run at repealing health care coverage for millions of Americans.

Here’s the reason they are moving now: Senate Republicans have until September 30th to repeal the Affordable Care Act with only 50 votes.

And here’s the scary fact: They just might have the votes to do it.

The Cassidy-Graham bill that the Republicans pulled out of the trash is their worst “health care” bill yet.

• It guts funding for Medicaid – so if you need a nursing home or your baby is born with complex medical needs, you’re on your own.


• It rolls back protections for people with pre-existing conditions – so if you have a heart attack or get a cancer diagnosis, too bad.


• And it completely eliminates help for families to buy health insurance – so if you can’t afford health insurance, good luck out there.

Make no mistake: This Cassidy-Graham “health care” bill is Trumpcare on steroids – and millions of Americans will lose their health care if the Republicans pass this piece of garbage in the next 11 days.

Remember everything you did to stop the Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act seven weeks ago? We need you to do it again.

1. Share your story again about why the Affordable Care Act or Medicaid matters to you or someone you love. Email it to your friends and family. Post it on Facebook or Twitter. Take a photo or record a video on your phone.


2. Our Senate Democrats are still united against this bill – but if you have family or friends who live in a state with a Republican senator, make sure they know what’s happening to health care this week. Call, text, email, message – check in and then spread the word.


3. Join a group. If you belong to an organization that has been fighting to save the Affordable Care Act, keep your eyes peeled. If you don’t belong to a group, find one. Organizations will be holding events, making calls, sharing content, and keeping people informed about what’s going on. Two voices are more than twice as powerful as one. Ten voices are more than ten times as powerful. And thousands – even millions – of voices working together can stop this ugly bill. Don’t delete all those emails.

Call now: Health care repeal is back

Trumpcare is back. Also known as "Graham-Cassidy." Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Bill Cassidy, Dean Heller, and Ron Johnson have introduced a new bill that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and take away health care from tens of millions of Americans. That's why every Republican senator needs to hear from constituents today—and every day—until this bill is defeated.

Will you call Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake now and tell them to protect our care? Tell them to vote no on Graham-Cassidy.

"

Here is where to call: 

• Senator John McCain
  • Phoenix, AZ: 602-952-2410
  • Tucson, AZ: 520-670-6334
• Senator Jeff Flake
  • Phoenix, AZ: 602-840-1891
  • Tucson, AZ: 520-575-8633

Washington Offices

• Sen. McCain - (202) 224-2235
• Sen. Flake - (202) 224-4521

This repeal proposal is being called "the most radical one yet."¹

The news media is not yet taking this effort seriously, with most calling it dead on arrival, but Sen. Cassidy is saying he is already close to securing 50 votes.² Plus, Donald Trump has said that repealing the ACA is a priority, and that he's prepared to sign this bill into law. They're trying to sneak this bill through Congress before the end of the month, which is the deadline for repeal to require only 50 votes.³ These next 12 days are make-or-break for what could be the final Republican attempt to take away our health care.

We've defeated Trumpcare over and over, and now we need to do it one more time by raising a deafening roar against any plan that would take away health care, cut Medicaid, and drive up insurance premiums.

Will you call your senators right now and say, "Don't take away our health care. Say no to Graham-Cassidy or any version of Trumpcare."?

We have stopped this trainwreck before, and we need to spot it again. We know that grassroots pressure works. If this bill moves forward, we'll rally, make phone calls, and fight tooth and nail against it. Let's start by raising an outcry to let every Republican senator know that we're watching, and that we will hold them accountable.

-MoveOn 

Sources: 

1. "Republicans wind up one last Hail Mary to repeal Obamacare," Vox, September 12, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/14513?t=15&akid=189887%2E18315738%2E8rrtgX

2. "Bill Cassidy says Obamacare overhaul bill is close to 50 votes," Washington Examiner, September 15, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/14514?t=17&akid=189887%2E18315738%2E8rrtgX

3. "Trump says 'inaction is not an option' after GOP senators unveil last-gasp Obamacare repeal plan," CNBC, September 13, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/14515?t=19&akid=189887%2E18315738%2E8rrtgX

Show you care! Demand universal health care

Republican senators have proposed yet another behind-closed-doors attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It’s distressing that some Members of Congress are hell-bent on betraying their constituents just so their rich donors can get some tax breaks.

But I know that with your help, we will defeat it just like we defeated all other attempts.

Senator Bernie Sanders and 15 co-sponsors have introduced a sensible plan to provide the universal access to health care we desperately need. It’s past time for all elected officials to get on board.

Please urge your senators to join Sen. Bernie Sanders in sponsoring a universal health care plan today!

Nearly 30 million people currently lack health care coverage, primarily low-income communities of color. Sen. Sanders has rightly called the gaps in coverage a “national emergency” and a “moral outrage.”

Thanks to the massive public mobilization against Trumpcare, the Republican scheme to strip health care coverage from millions more has collapsed.

Now is the time to leverage our victory and fight for, and win, universal health care. We all have the right to health care, no matter how much money we have, no matter our employment status. It's time for single-payer Medicare-for-All.

Tell your senators to co-sponsor Medicare-for-All legislation now!

Here are the numbers to call:

Senator John McCain

Phoenix, AZ: 602-952-2410

Prescott, AZ: 928-445-0833

Tucson, AZ: 520-670-6334

Senator Jeff Flake

Phoenix, AZ: 602-840-1891

Tucson, AZ: 520-575-8633

-Jennifer Flynn
Director of Healthcare Justice, CPD Action

URGENT: Health care under attack again

Like a zombie, Trumpcare is back. This time it's as a plan called "Graham-Cassidy"--named for Republicans who have bucked Trump in the past. So it's designed to look "moderate."

But we're not fooled. This version will completely eliminate Medicaid expansion, leaving 11 million of the most vulnerable people--including children--without insurance. It will gut protections for anyone with pre-existing conditions, send out-of-pocket costs soaring for people on the individual market, and "defund" Planned Parenthood. Those who keep their insurance "policy" aren't safe either--this bill allows the return of annual or lifetime caps on coverage and allows insurers to charge outrageous amounts for policies that don't cover basic needs, like maternity care and hospitalization. Over the course of the next decade, an estimated 32 million people will lose their insurance.¹ No wonder President Trump is so eager to sign it.²

Due to Senate rules, this bill must pass by September 30--so Republicans are trying to fast-track quickly, hoping we won't mobilize in time. We can't let that happen. According to Sen. Cassidy (R-LA), they are only one or two votes away.³ Tying up the phone lines with our calls of outrage can give Republicans pause--and Sens. Collins (R-ME) and Murkowski (R-AK) have expressed deep concern, so we have a chance to win them over and then only need one more "no" vote. This is an all hands on deck moment--can you make a phone call to Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake?

Here are the numbers to call:

• Senator John McCain
  • Phoenix, AZ: 602-952-2410
  • Prescott, AZ: 928-445-0833
  • Tucson, AZ: 520-670-6334
• Senator Jeff Flake
  • Phoenix, AZ: 602-840-1891
  • Tucson, AZ: 520-575-8633

Will you make an urgent call to Sens. McCain and Flake now?

Speak in your own words, but here are some points to guide you:

• My name is _______ and I'm from Tucson. I oppose the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA is important to me because (if you have a personal story, share it here!).

• The Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion has provided health insurance to millions of the neediest people in the United States. If you vote for Graham-Cassidy, it will result in especially vulnerable populations--like seniors, people with disabilities, and families with children--not getting the care they need.⁴

• The Affordable Care Act protects guaranteed coverage for critical care such as comprehensive maternity care, domestic violence screenings, and prescription drug coverage. If you vote for Graham-Cassidy, which allows states to opt out of this required coverage, insurance companies looking to make a buck will stop offering policies covering these vital health care services, which tens of millions of women rely on.⁵

• The Affordable Care Act provides important consumer affordability protections, like a ban on lifetime or annual "caps" on coverage. If you vote for Graham-Cassidy, it will literally throw families into bankruptcy.

Make a call today to protect the Affordable Care Act.

-- the UltraViolet Action team

Sources:

1. Graham-Cassidy Proposal: Gigantic Block Grants and Huge Health Care Cuts, FamiliesUSA, September 2017

Cassidy-Graham: The last GOP health plan left standing, explained, Vox, September 13, 2017

Cassidy-Graham Would Deeply Cut and Drastically Redistribute Health Coverage Funding Among States, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, August 24, 2017

2. Conway: Trump would sign Graham-Cassidy ObamaCare repeal bill, The Hill, September 6, 2017

3. Tweet by Sarah Kliff, Twitter, September 15, 2017

4. Medicaid’s Role for Women, Kaiser Family Foundation, June 22, 2017

5. Summary of the Affordable Care Act, Kaiser Family Foundation, April 25, 2013

Preventive care benefits for women, Healthcare.gov, accessed July 18, 2017

The Affordable Care Act’s Birth Control Benefit Is Working for Women, National Women's Law Center, December 16, 2016

Healthcare? The GOP is back with another We Don't Care bill

The clock is running out on the GOP's attempts to overturn the Affordable Care Act, so of course they have another proposal in the queue to try to "save healthcare," Republican style.

Graham, Cassidy, Heller, and Johnson (sounds like a law firm, doesn't it?) have a grand new plan to shift control of healthcare to the states. Sounds great, right? After all, we've been told innumerable times that the states know best. And this plan promises a lot of the old Republican standards: Health Savings Accounts, rollbacks of employer mandates, and block grants.

As usual, this plan will hurt those who can least afford it: the working poor and the middle class will see their insurance coverage diminish, their premiums go up, and more money out of pocket for deductibles. Small businesses will also see less support for providing health coverage for their employees. And, if you're old or have a pre-existing condition, watch out: the bill doesn't remove the mandate to cover people with pre-existing conditions, but it does allow states to apply for waivers to the law that would allow insurers to charge exorbitant premiums to cover those patients. Also, it dismantles rules prohibiting insurance companies from selling worthless junk policies.

But, there are some who would benefit: medical device manufacturers will see a tax cut, large employers will no longer be required to provide coverage to their employees, and the states that refused to expand medicare coverage to spite President Obama will get a bonus for their loyalty to party, paid for by the states who tried to put their citizens ahead of politics.

Yep. This is exactly the kind of healthcare plan we can expect from today's Republican Party.  One of GOP's rallying calls is that this plan is the last chance to stop Bernie's Medicare for All act.

I personally believe that America should catch up with the rest of the civilized world and provide healthcare for all of us.  But even if you don't want your tax dollars to pay for other people's coverage, look at it this way - you will save money on your healthcare under Bernie's plan. The increase in taxes is MUCH less than the cost of coverage (not even factoring in the cost of the huge deductibles.)

With the GOP's plan block grants will diminish over time forcing states to charge more taxes if they want to keep or expand medicare. The states would have a choice on how they use that money, but only 20% is allowed for medicare. One problem with each state having separate healthcare plans is that we would lose our collective bargaining power so the cost of premiums would go up.

So if our healthcare ends up in the hands of the states, the big question is, "Will my state representatives take care of me and my family?"