Just a month after declaring that the Affordable Care Act will remain “the law of the land,” Congress is taking another swing at destroying Medicaid and taking away your health care. Their new version of the repeal bill is worse than ever, and they’re rushing it through the House of Representatives to give you less time to make your voice heard. The House could vote on the bill as early as Wednesday. Your Representative needs to hear from you today and tomorrow. Call and tell them to vote NO on ACA repeal.
A lot of things in the new repeal bill are the same as before. It will still cut Medicaid funding by $880 billion, devastating programs that disabled Americans depend on to live, work, and participate in our communities. It will still make insurance harder to buy, and allow insurance companies to charge you more money for worse health coverage. 24 million Americans will still lose their health insurance by 2026. But here’s what’s new:
- Insurance companies will be able to deny you coverage because of your disability.
- States will be allowed to strip protections for people with pre-existing conditions – like autism. This would force us into “high-risk insurance pools” which charge more and don’t give us the health care we need.
- Insurers will be allowed to stop providing essential health benefits like emergency services, medications, and hospital visits. If you need mental health care or occupational therapy, your insurance will be able to stop paying for those things.
This is a direct attack on the disability community and our equal right to health care – and you have the power to fight back. You can find your Representative’s contact information by entering your ZIP code at contactingcongress.org. If you find it easier to leave an answering machine message than to talk to a staffer on the phone, you can call after work hours, and your message will still be counted. If you don’t speak, you can call using your AAC device, or get a friend to call in and read your message. No matter how you do it, your call is critical right now. Here’s a script you can use: