Urgent Action Needed: Help Save Health Care!
MALC is a strong supporter of health care reform for our state as well as on the national level. Our statewide health care reform efforts, along with the national effort (the Affordable Care Act/Obama Care), have enabled artists of all disciplines to get needed health care and health care coverage.
Please take a moment and support the following call-to-action from the “Health Care for All” blog:
JOIN OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY CAMPAIGN TODAY!
My name is Brian Rosman, and I am the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Health Care For All.
As you know, the incoming Trump administration and congressional Republicans have promised to repeal the ACA (Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare), and make severe cuts to federal funding for the Medicaid program, which provides health care to low income people. This would be devastating to health care in Massachusetts and throughout the country.
We have a real chance to stop this.
This is how you can help: Join our Friends and Family Campaign!
We’re asking everyone to please contact your friends and family who live in states with Republican Senators, and ask them to get in touch with their Senators!
How? It’s easy.
Tell them how health reform has been a success in Massachusetts, and direct them to www.savemycare.org
You might ask why this matters. I’ll explain in a minute, but first, here’s my story:
I’ve been working in Massachusetts since 1987. I worked on Beacon Hill, at a university health policy center, and for the last 13 years at Health Care For All.
But I actually grew up in Tucson, Arizona. My parents are still there, and so are lots of my high school friends. Also, we have two children, and one just finished college and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
OK, back to health care, and I’ll explain why the biography.
The Republican plan is called “Repeal and Delay.” They want to repeal Obamacare now, and figure out later about what comes next. The problem is insurers won’t stick around to see what the replacement is, leading to collapse of insurance markets. And since the repeal also eliminates the taxes that pay for the programs, once it’s repealed there won’t be funds for a replacement. We must stop “repeal and delay.” If they must pass some kind of repeal, we insist that they also include an adequate replacement plan at the same time.
So here’s the deal with the politics of repealing health care reform. It all comes down to the U.S. Senate, where there are just 52 Republicans – a slim majority. Our two Senators – Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey – are firmly committed to voting no on repeal. But if just three Republican Senators can be convinced to raise objections to the repeal and delay bill, then there’s actually a chance we can avoid the worst outcome.
And that’s the opening for you to help, and why I told you about myself. If potential swing Senators hear from lots and lots of people from their state opposed to the repeal and delay plan, there’s a chance we can stop it from happening.
Arizona and Pennsylvania both have possible swing Senators, so I asked my parents in Arizona, and my son in Pennsylvania to call his Senator, too. I told them how Massachusetts reduced the uninsurance rate to under 3%. We are proof that health reform does work.
And it is easy;
just send your friends and relatives to
There you just have to enter their zip code and phone number, and the system connects you directly to your Senator’s office, and provides you with instructions and suggested talking points. You can also use the system yourself to thank Senators Warren and Markey for their support here in Massachusetts.
You can send the www.savemycare.org link out to your friends using email, or send it to them through Facebook or Twitter (or, it’s a good excuse to just call them).
Here’s the list of states and their Republican Senators:
1. Alabama: Richard Shelby
2. Alaska: Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan
3. Arizona: Jeff Flake and John McCain
4. Arkansas: Tom Cotton and John Boozman
5. Colorado: Cory Gardner
6. Florida: Marco Rubio
7. Georgia: Johnny Isakson and David Perdue
8. Idaho: Mike Crapo and Jim Risch
9. Indiana: Todd Young
10. Iowa: Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst
11. Kansas: Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran
12. Kentucky: Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell
13. Louisiana: Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy
14. Maine: Susan Collins
15. Mississippi: Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker
16. Missouri: Roy Blunt
17. Montana: Steve Daines
18. Nebraska: Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse
19. Nevada: Dean Heller
20. North Carolina: Richard Burr and Thom Tillis
21. North Dakota: John Hoeven
22. Ohio: Rob Portman
23. Oklahoma: Jim Inhofe and James Lankford
24. Pennsylvania: Pat Toomey
25. South Carolina: Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham
26. South Dakota: John Thune and Mike Rounds
27. Tennessee: Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker
28. Texas: John Cornyn and Ted Cruz
29. Utah: Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee
30. West Virginia: Shelly Moore Capito
31. Wisconsin: Ron Johnson
32. Wyoming: Mike Enzi and John Barrasso
Let us know (use organizing@hcfama.org) if you’ve been successful. Together, we can tell the story of Massachusetts health reform, and let people know how they can save health care for over 20 million Americans.
Thank you.