Campaign Action
The latest iteration of Trumpcare from Senate Republicans has gotten an emphatic thumbs down from the nation's largest doctors' group, the American Medical Association.
The American Medical Association says in a statement that the Senate bill “does not address the key concerns of physicians and patients.”
The group says Medicaid cuts and what it calls “inadequate subsidies” will lead to “millions of Americans losing health insurance coverage.”
The AMA says GOP leaders took a “positive step” by adding $45 billion for treatment to help victims of the opioid epidemic. But the AMA says people dealing with addiction also need regular health insurance, and many would lose it if Republicans succeed in rolling back Medicaid financing.
Other major industry groups agree. The president of the American Hospital Association, Rick Pollack, says it would mean "real consequences for real people. […] Among them people with chronic conditions such as cancer, individuals with disabilities who need long-term services and support, and the elderly." Darrel Kirch, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, specifically address the harm the Cruz amendment would cause, saying that it "will hurt those with preexisting conditions and further destabilize insurance markets."
Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, reinforces that, saying that the bill as a whole, including the Cruz amendment, would make health care worse for cancer patients and everyone. "This bill would leave patients and those with pre-existing conditions paying more for less coverage and would substantially erode the progress our nation has been trying to make in providing affordable, adequate and meaningful coverage to all Americans," he said.
None of these groups or any others in the industry or representing patients had any say in this bill. Neither did at least 45 of the 52 Republican senators who are about to vote on this thing, if Mitch McConnell has his way. One, just one, of those 45 or so who've been shut out of the process could put an end to this thing right now. It only takes three to torpedo the bill, and Susan Collins and Rand Paul are already there.
So who's it going to be?
All we need are three Republican senators to block Trumpcare. If you have a GOP senator, we need you to call their office at (202) 224-3121 and demand that they put their constituents above their party by voting to block Trumpcare. After the call, tell us how the call went.
Please give $1 to each of our Senate funds so that Republican senators—especially Dean Heller—know there'll be a price to pay for repealing health care.