Make Your Voice Heard

Two weeks ago, it looked like Congressional attempts to repeal and replace parts of the Affordable Care Act might be over – at least for now – after the bill House Republicans crafted, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), was pulled from consideration…and signals from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue suggested that other issues would become priorities. Now it looks like the AHCA, or some form of it, will continue to be the focus of future legislative activity, as the White House spent the week negotiating with various Republican factions in the House to try to modify the bill to earn enough votes to win a majority and assure its passage through the chamber. Unfortunately, as you know, the AHCA would have increased the number of Americans without health insurance by the tens of millions. And it would have drastically cut funding to Medicaid, a critical program that provides medical care for the most vulnerable among us – namely children, the poor, and the disabled. We appreciated your support in contacting your representatives to ask that they not support this measure. And you played a critical role in preventing a vote by sharing your stories about its potential negative impact – particularly in terms of the 20 million people who might have lost coverage and whose health care could have been jeopardized. As the House begins a two-week recess, we continue to need your help in reminding your representatives that their decisions made in Washington have real ramifications for the constituents and communities back home who they represent. The bottom line: we need to keep up this fight. With representatives back home, now is a great time to educate them about the good work hospitals do in their communities…and also to reiterate our opposition to legislation that would dramatically increase the number of uninsured Americans.