Tell governors: Don’t help Trump destroy Medicaid

To the governors of all 50 states: "Do not help Donald Trump destroy Medicaid and steal health care from countless people. Oppose any attempt to impose labor requirements on Medicaid participants." Add your name:

Donald Trump is trying to do by administrative fiat what his Republican enablers in Congress couldn't: Destroy Medicaid as we know it.1 The Trump administration recently announced that states could impose labor requirements on people who receive health care through Medicaid. Not only does this rip the heart out of Medicaid’s coverage guarantee, it robs health care from people who cannot work because of a chronic condition or because they care for loved ones.2 Some states have declared they will refuse to help Trump destroy Medicaid, but others – like Kentucky – are jumping on board.3 We desperately need to convince our nation’s governors that they will face a backlash if they collaborate with Trump to end Medicaid. Tell governors: Don’t help Trump destroy Medicaid. Click here to sign the petition. All Trump has done is open a loophole big enough to drive a truck through. States still have to choose to impose labor in return for health care. That is where we come in: If we can demonstrate that people are as outraged by this sneak attack as they were about Republican attempts to end Medicaid through Trumpcare, even some right-wing governors could decide it is not worth the political trouble. Make no mistake, Trump is trying to destroy Medicaid. The core of Medicaid’s mandate is to make sure even people trapped in poverty can access doctors, medical care and long-term health care coverage. Imposing labor, which Republicans euphemistically call “work requirements,” undermines Medicaid's mission. It is also a backdoor attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which expanded Medicaid access.4 Worst of all, these changes will kill people. Losing health care coverage results in people losing their lives. Republicans are trying to demonize Medicaid as welfare even though nearly all participants are already working. Recent studies prove that "able-bodied" Medicaid participants who are not working are either providing care for a loved one or are actually disabled – since states can choose to ignore some chronic conditions or mental illness in their definitions of "able-bodied."5 Right now, governors and state legislatures are weighing whether requiring labor in exchange for health care helps or hurts them politically. We need to remind them that doing so is not just politically foolish, it is absolutely immoral. Tell governors: Don’t help Trump destroy Medicaid. Click here to sign the petition. Past Democratic and Republican administrations have agreed that states, which administer Medicaid programs, cannot force people into labor. But suddenly, Trump is trying to change all that. In fact, the new administrative guidance strongly implies that this administration will authorize any labor requirement, no matter how stringent. States could decide that people with long-term conditions have to work, anyway. Or, they could steal health care coverage from people who cannot work because they serve as caregivers for loved ones – a move that could disproportionately hurt women of color, who are more likely to care for family.6 Donald Trump is leaning on false, racialized stereotypes about lazy welfare beneficiaries to gin up hatred and steal health care from countless Americans. The ultimate goal is to leave Americans dependent on big corporations and cruel bosses for their very survival. We cannot let that happen. Tell governors: Don’t help Trump destroy Medicaid. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_medicaid?t=8&akid=26915%2E3130208%2EPdUjXm - Murshed Zaheed, Political Director CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: 1. Dylan Scott, “The Trump administration’s plan for Medicaid work requirements, explained,” Vox, Jan. 12, 2017. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid. 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid.

Stop Republicans in Congress from gutting our earned benefit programs

he petition to Congress reads: "Do not cut, privatize, weaken or otherwise damage Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. You cannot pay for your disastrous tax giveaway to Wall Street and to the top 1% with our earned benefits." Add your name:

Donald Trump’s Republican lapdogs in Congress recently rammed a massively unpopular, cruel and deeply corrupt Tax Scam into law. Now, Paul Ryan and the rest of the right-wing Republican leadership in Congress is gearing up to slash Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, nutrition assistance and more.1 Republican ideologues like Ryan know their Robin-Hood-in-reverse agenda to enrich their billionaire donors from Wall Street by gutting our earned benefit programs is deeply unpopular. They learned the hard way this past year how unpopular cutting Medicaid is. That is why they are predictably using made-up excuses about the deficit to smear these important programs. We need to make it clear that any attempt to privatize, cut, weaken or damage Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or any of our earned benefits is completely unacceptable. Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click here to sign the petition. Even before the Trump Tax Scam passed, Ryan was talking about his plans to gut Medicaid and Medicare in 2018. “We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform,” he promised last month, suddenly rediscovering a passion for the deficit after pushing trillions in tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy.2 Medicare is a fundamental tool of economic security for more than 58 million seniors, and the program is overwhelmingly popular.3,4 And throughout last summer, activists with the disability rights organization ADAPT and others showed Republicans just how important Medicaid is in their daily lives. The majority of Medicaid beneficiaries are children and working-age adults, Medicaid spends more money on long term care for seniors and people with disabilities than anything else.5 Social Security, meanwhile, is totally funded for the next two decades – longer if everyone pays at the same rate – and the only retirement income that most Americans can count on.6 Donald Trump repeatedly pledged during the 2016 campaign not to attack Medicare, Medicaid or our Social Security system but he has since seriously undermined these programs. Ryan’s ultimate goal is to end Medicare as we know it and replace it with a privatized program.7 Now, Trump and his lapdogs in Congress are not just coming after Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, they are attacking programs like Meals on Wheels, SNAP, and other nutritional assistance that families rely on. Republicans are whipping up a fake deficit hysteria after giving massive giveaways to the rich as a Trojan horse to attack our earned benefits. We must go all out to resist any cuts. Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click here to sign the petition. If Ryan gets his way, folks who have been working their whole lives counting on Medicare in their retirement won’t ever be able to enroll – instead they will get a check that might help cover their premium for private insurance, if they are lucky.8 And if the Republicans are successful in their attacks on Medicare and Medicaid, they will come next for Social Security. What’s more, our Social Security system is separate from regular taxes and not affected by the deficit.9 Republicans cannot attack our earned benefits without a major fight. More than 70 percent of Americans rely on these programs at some point in our lives, and we are not going to let Ryan, McConnell and Trump dismantle them.10 Tell Congress: Stop the Republican attack on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/No_Cuts?t=8&akid=26660%2E3130208%2E76vAOT - Kaili Lambe CREDO Action Add your name: Jeff Stein, “Ryan says Republicans to target welfare, Medicare, Medicaid spending in 2018,” The Washington Post, Dec. 6, 2017. Ibid. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, “Medicare Enrollment Dashboard,” accessed Dec. 14, 2017. Dan Mangan, “Medicare, Medicaid popularity high: Kaiser,” CNBC, July 17, 2017. Social Security Works, “Why Medicaid Is Important to Seniors,” accessed Dec. 20, 2017. Carolyn Colvin, "Social Security Funded Until 2034, and About Three-Quarters Funded for the Long Term; Many Options to Address the Long-Term Shortfall," Social Security Matters, June 22, 2016. Josh Marshall, “Ryan Plans to Phase Out Medicare in 2017,” TPM, Nov. 13, 2016. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Policy Basics: Understanding the Social Security Trust Funds," Sept. 21, 2017. Sarah Ayres Steinberg, "The Safety Net is Good Economic Policy," Center for American Progress, March 31, 2014. Rachel West and Melissa Boteach, "House Republican Cuts to Nutrition Assistance Would Harm Families in Every State," Center for American Progress, Aug. 8, 2017.

Fight for a humane tax plan and healthcare: Share your personal story with these maverick senators

First, Senator Ron Johnson, an arch-conservative from Wisconsin, came out against the Republican Party's misguided plan to cut taxes for the wealthy and sabotage Obamacare.1 Then, 13 Republicans voted against the House tax bill. Now, Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski seem to be leaning our way, and a new analysis shows the Senate tax plan will actually RAISE taxes on the poor and the middle class--a huge political blow to the bill's chances.2,3

If Sens. Collins, Murkowski, and Johnson vote no, the bill is dead. That's why we're making Senate phones ring off the hook in Washington, D.C., and organizing our members in key states to tell their stories about what this tax DEFORM plan would mean for them.

Desperate for a win, Senator Mitch McConnell and Trump are pushing to pass their rich-person giveaway when they come back after Thanksgiving. That means we've got just one week to raise hell in Maine, Arizona, Nevada, and Alaska--the same kind of organizing that helped us kill Trumpcare earlier this year.

But just like this summer, we have to keep the pressure on senators from these states. We've got the cold hard facts: 13 million will lose their health insurance.4 Americans earning less than $75,000 a year will see their taxes INCREASE.5

We have to back up those facts with the stories of real people, real voters, who can't afford for this dangerous tax plan to become law.

- UltraViolet Action

Sources:

1. GOP tax plan in trouble after Republican senator says he won’t back it, The Washington Post, November 15, 2017
2. Why Republicans may have lost Susan Collins in their tax reform fight, Bangor Daily News, November 16, 2017
3. Murkowski Tax Vote Contingent on Stabilizing Individual Health Insurance Market, Roll Call, November 17, 2017
4. Repealing the Individual Health Insurance Mandate: An Updated Estimate, Congressional Budget Office, November 8, 2017
5. $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut Passed by House in Mostly Party-Line Vote, The New York Times, November 16, 2017

Does the #GOPTaxPlan treat corporations and individuals the same in terms of who gets to keep deductions and who doesn’t? Nope, not even close. WATCH VIDEO.

Contact Republican Senators Susan Collins
https://www.collins.senate.gov/contact
Washington office (202)224-2523

Contact Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski
https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/contact/email

Phone: (202)-224-6665
Fax: (202)-224-5301

Tax reform roadblocks emerge in Senate: Sens. John McCain and Lisa Murkowski have been wildcards, avoiding taking a public position on the proposal.

Senator McCain is also also a key player in this fight. 

You can contact Sen. McCain at his Tucson Office:

(520) 670-6334
Fax: (855) 952-8702

One way to reach him is to share you personal stories on his website:

https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form

Here's mine for inspiration:

Dear Senator McCain,

I live in Tucson where so many of your constituents are living paycheck to paycheck. They are one medical emergency from going bankrupt and losing their homes. Everyday I see more and more homeless people - some vets, some people who had to quit their jobs to care for a sick loved one, some who had a medical emergency. I'm urging you to take care of vulnerable Tucsonans. It is just heartless to pass a huge tax cut for the wealthiest Americans on the back of the most vulnerable. Why are you raising taxes on married couples who make less that $19050 a year? When my husband left me, I struggled to get by on spousal support. No one would hire me because I had been a stay at home mom. I could have easily become homeless. So many of us are just one emergency away from being homeless.

My parents in Missouri are just getting by on their limited retirement plan and social security.  My dad recently had gallbladder surgery. He could not have had that surgery without the help of Medicare.  They finally had to get a home health aide. That is also paid for by Medicare. This immoral tax plan even cuts the dependent deduction that enables families to take care of their elderly parents at home AND the deduction for their medical expenses. How are people supposed to get by? 

Senator McCain, please, don't take away our healthcare or make it even harder on the poor. I know you are a moral man; vote your conscious. Vote no on that cruel tax bill.

Demand Congress Address the Opioid Crisis!

The opioid epidemic killed 64,000 people last year and is the #1 cause of death for Americans under 50.

This is a PUBLIC HEALTH crisis, yet the government has yet to allocate any funding to address this crisis.

In fact, Trump and Republicans are making it worse by attacking health care programs like Medicaid, the largest funder of opioid treatment and services.

If our legislators are serious about ending the opioid crisis, they need to allocate funds to make opioid treatment safe, affordable, and accessible. That means taking immediate action on the following:

1) Fund real treatment and public health services that address the opioid crisis.

2) Pass the Alexander-Murray health care proposal.

3) Protect Medicaid, the biggest payer of opioid treatment!

Urge your Members of Congress to support real solutions to the opioid crisis now!

Today, the Opioid Network – a coalition of opioid users, health care professionals, grassroots leaders, and other allies – is storming the halls of Congress to protect Medicaid and demand $45 billion in federal funding to expand access to opioid treatment and overdose prevention.

Help the Opioid Network sound the alarm: Send a message to your Members of Congress urging them to protect Medicaid and fund better access to opioid treatment now!

- Jennifer Flynn, Director of Mobilization and Advocacy, CPD Action