All across the country, citizens at town hall meetings are asking hard questions to the 217 Republicans like New York’s John Faso and Elise Stefanik who voted in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid.
People’s Action’s Julie Chinitz offers advice about how we can talk with our family, friends, neighbors and leaders about what’s at stake, and what we can do together to defend healthcare.
On May 4, Congress passed a health care repeal that will push 24 million people off health care and make health care more expensive for many millions more. The Senate will soon start writing its own legislation to take our health care away.
We’ve beat this repeal back before. Let’s do it again. Help keep our firestorm going by talking with family, friends, and neighbors about how health care repeal will hurt us and our hometowns.
Talk About Our Values
Most of us believe the only decent thing is for everyone to get the health care they need. We believe our government should make sure we all can get health care — not take health care away. We don’t think people should die or suffer because they don’t have a lot of money.
But members of Congress who voted for this health repeal don’t share these values. If they’re like Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, they think we’re to blame for our illnesses. Some, like Rep. Raul Labrador, refuse to understand that, yes, people do die if they can’t afford health care. They really don’t think our government should protect and promote access to health care. We do.
Stick to the Real Fundamentals of What the Health Repeal Does
Some members of Congress are plain lying about what their health care repeal bill does. So, let’s make sure people in our hometowns know the fundamentals:
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The House ACA repeal guts and ends the expansion of Medicaid, slashing more than $839 billion in funding.
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Raises price of ACA care (premiums, deductibles, etc.) by an average of $3,600, with people who are older, poorer, and living in small/rural communities…