Popular vote loser Donald Trump and his Republican enablers are making every effort to tear apart the Affordable Care Act and return to the days of high cost, emergency room first health care—the kind of plan (or lack thereof) that bankrupted millions of Americans and cost an untold number their lives because they held off seeking treatment due to high costs or a lack of insurance all together. We cannot go back. The Affordable Care Act needs to be strengthened, not weakened or dismantled. Please take a few minutes to call your congressional representative and tell them in no uncertain terms that the replacement plan proposed by Paul Ryan is 100% unacceptable.
Grab the most effective tool you have to fight back, your phone, and call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard to contact your representative. It only takes a minute and you can use the sample script below (courtesy of Indivisible Kansas City.)
(202) 224-3121
My name is _________ and I’m a constituent from _________. I OPPOSE TrumpCare, because (use one of the following reasons): 1. it defunds Planned Parenthood, 2. for Medicaid, the requirement that mental health be covered the same as other health services will go away, 3. it allows larger companies to no longer cover employees, leaving many working poor uninsured, 4. insurers will be able to charge as much as five times for older customers.
More info on the proposed changes in this long-awaited bill:
What changes: Bill will defund Planned Parenthood. Individuals will no longer be required to buy insurance, especially young, healthy people. This will result in rising insurance rates. Those who let their coverage lapse for 63 days will be charged 30% penalty for their insurance for the following 12 months. This discourages healthy people from re-entering the market until they’re very sick. Subsidies will no longer be based on how poor one is, but will be based the person’s age. Under the ACA, people who were poorer got higher subsidies and less if they were richer. Insurers will be able to charge as much as five times for older customers than younger ones. Larger companies will no longer be obligated to cover their employees, leaving many uninsured, especially the working poor for whom the ACA was created. Taxes for medical devices, on high salaries of insurance executives, Medicare recipients who are higher earners (billionaires), on insurance companies,on pharmaceutical companies, and tanning salons will go away. Under the ACA, the money collected from these taxes went towards covering the cost of subsidies. For Medicaid, the requirement that mental health services be covered the same as other health services will go away. Medicaid expansion will end in 2020. Low-cost or no-cost wellness visits will go away. What stays the same: Kids can stay on their parents’ insurance until the age of 26 Insurers can’t refuse to cover those with pre-existing conditions. Insurers must still offer 10 essential health benefits, including maternity care and preventive serves Insurers can’t set annual or lifetime limits. Citations: The Parts of Obamacare Republicans Will Keep, Change or Discard The Republicans’ “American Health Care Act” in a few words as I can manage