Saving the ACA. (Again.)

Join a kickoff call on Sunday with Speaker Emerita Pelosi! We deserve more than a concept of a plan.

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Join the Call

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is hosting a Save Our Healthcare call on Sunday, 1/12. You are all invited! Register for the call here.

Saving the ACA

“You can have all the riches and success in the world, but if you don't have your health, you have nothing.” Steven Adler

When Donald Trump was elected in 2016 one of his priorities was to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). He promised to replace it with a “terrific,” “phenomenal” and “fantastic” new health care plan.(1) However, he never disclosed the details of this awesome plan. Congress came very close to repealing the ACA in July 2017, until John McCain left his sick bed to make a dramatic entrance into the Senate chamber and vote no with a “thumbs down.”

Senator John McCain votes NO on "Skinny Repeal" (C-SPAN)

Once again Trump has made repealing the ACA a priority. Even though he admits he doesn’t have an actual plan, only a “concept” of a plan.

What would repealing the Affordable Care Act without more than a concept of a plan look like? Before the ACA became law in 2010, there was so much wrong with the insurance industry that it’s hard to know where to start.

Many Americans who faced catastrophic illness or injury were left with nothing. Insurance was expensive and often hard to obtain. Most policies didn’t cover pre-existing conditions, so anyone born with a chronic illness was SOL. The same will be true of anyone who has had Covid. Insurance policies included maximum benefit limits, and if the cost of your care exceeded that limit, you were expected to pay the rest on your own. People sometimes had to choose between getting their medication, paying their mortgage or buying food. The ACA also gave people more flexibility for work because they weren’t tied to their jobs in order to keep their insurance.

The ACA changed all of that by changing the rules that health insurance companies had to follow. Among its most important provisions are these that:

• Prohibit insurance plans from cancelling coverage or for charging more or denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

• Stop insurance plans from putting dollar limits on most benefits.

• Expand Medicaid coverage for low income individuals.

• Allow kids up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ insurance plans instead of forcing them to get new, more expensive insurance plans during the first years of building a career.

• The ACA puts an end to lifetime and yearly benefit caps.

Many people with major illnesses, such as cancers, have credited the ACA with saving their lives. If Trump manages to get his forces in Congress to approve a repeal, everything will likely go back to the way it was prior to 2010. More people will be bankrupt, will lose their homes, and even their lives. Donald Trump and his cronies will still be able to afford the best healthcare money can buy, but they are more than ready to screw all of us in order to stuff more cash in their already bulging pockets.

Here are some things you can do now:

• Join the Save Our Healthcare call on Sunday, 1/12 with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi! Register here.

• Call your Congressperson and your Senators (202- 224-3121) and let them know you are a constituent and want them to vote against repealing the ACA.

• Reach out to others (particularly Trump supporters) and discuss the difference the ACA made to your family and your friends. Sharing personal stories can be very effective.

• Check DemCast for toolkits for posting about healthcare on social media.

• Subscribe to the Digital Drumbeat! We will be working hard to inform & persuade on this topic throughout Trump 2.0!

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