September 20, 2017 IN: California, Health
Urgent: Congress Refuses to Leave Our Health Care Alone
The fight to protect our health care is more important than ever. Republicans have redoubled their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which made affordable health care accessible to so many Southeast Asian American families.
Republican Senators Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) recently introduced a new ACA repeal bill that they are falsely promoting as a “moderate” compromise. But their bill is just as extreme -or worse – than the previous failed efforts to repeal the ACA, and disproportionately targets California and other densely populated states.
Because the bill needs to be attached to the expiring budget reconciliation bill passed by the House, Congress has until September 30 to vote on the Graham-Cassidy repeal bill. On Friday, Senator Cassidy reported to the media that Senate Republicans are within one or two votes of taking our health care away.
Contact your Senators and your Representative today!
What’s at stake:
The Graham-Cassidy bill would replace Medicaid expansion and market subsidies with temporary block grants to states, which would underfund the health care system by an estimated $273 billion between 2020 and 2026.
- After 2026, this bill ends block grant funding, meaning up to 32 million people could lose health coverage.
- It strips health care from people with disabilities, seniors in nursing homes, and other vulnerable populations.
- It allows states to charge people with pre-existing conditions more and eliminate key protections.
- It allows states to let insurance companies charge up to 5 times more for people over 50.
The cuts are targeted at California and other densely populated states that have expanded Medicaid and enrolled millions in health care. Cuts to Medicaid would grow each year, reaching $80 billion by 2026, over a third of which would be taken from California alone. Medicaid cuts skyrocket after block grants end in 2027. About 1 million Southeast Asian Americans live in California, so the provisions of the Graham-Cassidy proposition will drastically affect our communities.
Participate in these advocacy efforts today to fight the possibility that you or your family could lose your health care coverage tomorrow.
1. Contact your Senators and your Representative to oppose any repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Call 202-224-3121 3 times to be connected to your 1 Representative and 2 Senators.
Sample Script:
“I’m your constituent from [City, State], and I urge you to oppose the Graham-Cassidy proposal. This proposed health care replacement will put millions of Americans at risk of losing access to affordable and quality health care and will increase health disparities and cause more deaths. We need a plan that will improve and increase access to affordable health care.”
