Dear friends,
A few weeks ago, the Senate took the first steps toward repealing the Affordable Care Act. Since then, you’ve mobilized to defend our health care, calling Senate Committees and asking them not to repeal the ACA without a replacement plan in place – and it’s working. After hearing from so many people about their concerns, the Senate is pushing back the deadline on the budget process. But the people working to take health care away from 18 million Americans aren’t stopping – and neither should we.
Many lawmakers have mentioned a repeal-and-replace strategy — but the budget process Congress is using can only be used to repeal. Without a replacement plan in place, it’s estimated that at least 18 million Americans would lose their health insurance within the first year of the repeal.
Your advocacy is working, but we have to keep the pressure on the Committees. Use the steps below, and keep calling.
1. Find out if either of your state Senators is on the Senate HELP Committee or the Finance Committee. Click here to see the members of the HELP Committee, and click here to see the members of the Finance Committee.
2. If you have a Senator on one or both committees, they should be the primary target of your calls. Senators care a lot about hearing from the people from the state they represent. Find the number for your Senators’ offices here.
3. If neither of your Senators is on either committee, you can call the office of the Chair and Ranking Member of each committee:
HELP Committee
Chair: Lamar Alexander – (202) 224-4944
Ranking Member: Patty Murray – (202) 224-2621
Finance Committee
Chair: Orrin Hatch – (202) 224-5251
Ranking Member: Ron Wyden – (202) 224-5244
Here’s a script you can use:
Hi, my name is [Your Name] and I’m a constituent of Senator [Name]. I’m calling to ask Senator [Name] to preserve the Affordable Care Act during the budget reconciliation process. Specifically, I’m urging the Senator to defend Medicaid expansion and the premium tax credit. I’m also asking the Senator to take the words of [his/her] colleagues in the Senate to heart and figure out how to replace the ACA before starting to repeal it. Thanks for your time.
If you can’t use the phone, you can ask someone to call on your behalf. They can say, “I’m calling on behalf of [Your Name,] who is a constituent of the Senator’s. [Your Name] has a disability and isn’t able to make phone calls, but they want to ask the Senator to to preserve the Affordable Care Act during the budget reconciliation process. Specifically, they’re urging the Senator to defend Medicaid expansion and the premium tax credit. They’re also asking the Senator to take the words of [his/her] colleagues in the Senate to heart and figure out how to replace the ACA before starting to repeal it. Thanks for your time.