Urgent action needed THIS WEEK - Oppose the AHCA

Dear IPHA Member

Join us in urging members of the House of Representatives to oppose the American Health Care Act today!

The bill to repeal significant portions of the Affordable Care Act is to be voted on starting today, and with proposed changes that would bode even worse for public health. The new proposal was amended to further weaken protections under the ACA to gain the support of the most conservative members of the Republican caucus, improving the chances of the bill's ultimate passage in the House.  Unfortunately, the Congressional Budget Office has not scored the bill, and we have no idea the cost of the taxpayer or the benefits lost to the public needing health insurance.  If you have a pre-existing condition, you should be extremely concerned about the potential loss of coverage and the high cost of premiums under this plan.  How many Americans will not have health care if this bill passes?  The sponsors do not even know the answer to that question.This is no time for business as usual.  Call or e- mail your Members of Congress, now!

See the message below from APHA:

Please help us oppose the American Health Care Act by calling representatives from your state in the target list below and share this message with the members of your Affiliate and urge them to do the same. There is at least one moderate Republican from the House of Representatives who needs to hear from constituents and other leaders in their state urging them to oppose the American Health Care Act, legislation to repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act and the new proposed amendment to the AHCA that make the bill even worse by allowing states to:

• opt out of the ACA’s requirements to cover 10 Essential Health Benefits
• opt out of the ACA’s community rating requirements (prevents health insurers from varying premiums within a geographic area based on age, gender, health status or other factors)
• opt out of the ACA’s requirements on how much older Americans are charged for coverage

News broke last week that House Republicans may bring the bill back to the House floor as early as this week now that they have gained additional support from the most conservative members of their caucus with the proposed new changes outlined above. All attention now turns to the moderate Republicans who also expressed deep concerns with the original bill in March and who may be further turned off by the new proposed changes that would increase insurance premium costs.

As you may recall the underlying bill the American Health Care Act would repeal major portions of the Affordable Care Act and the Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would result in 24 million Americans losing health insurance coverage by 2026. It would also end the Medicaid expansion under the ACA and also turn the underlying Medicaid program into a per capita program which would cut $839 billion in federal Medicaid contributions to the state over the next decade. The bill would also repeal the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which makes up 12 percent of the budget at CDC.

More details and talking points below, but you can keep the message simple:

• Oppose the American Health Care Act as well as the new proposed changes to the bill that would allow states to opt out of requiring that health plans cover the Essential Health Benefits, allow insurers to charge people higher premiums based on pre-existing conditions and increase out-of-pocket costs for older adults.
• The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will cause 24 million Americans to lose health insurance coverage by 2026
• The bill would also eliminate critical public health funding by repealing the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
• The bill will end the Medicaid expansion and also cut  more than $800 billion in federal contributions to Medicaid over the next decade.
• Instead, members of Congress should work together in a bipartisan manner to build upon the Affordable Care Act to make it even stronger.

Additional background info:

You can find APHA’s most recent statement on the new version of the proposed bill here: https://www.apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2017/apha-opposes-worse-aca-repeal-bill

Additional talking points on the American Health Care Act can be found here: https://www.apha.org/~/media/files/pdf/topics/aca/no_aca_repeal_tlkgpts.ashx

Here is the list of targets by state/congressional district. You can call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to their office and urge them to oppose the ACHA and the new amendment to further weaken the ACA. The more of your members who you can get to make calls to these offices today and tomorrow the better! If you would like specific staff email addresses for any of these members, please let me know. If you’re not sure of your member of Congress, you can look them up here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/.

Comments