Actions to Save Medicaid Over Senate’s July Recess

On Tuesday, Senate GOP leadership delayed their vote on a bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017, that would leave 22 million people without health care. While the delay is good news, the fight is not over. Senate leaders are trying to drum up support to pass this legislation after they return from recess on July 10.

To ensure this bill does not pass, we must keep the pressure on while lawmakers are in their home states over the July 4th break. Our partners, Justice in Aging, put together 4 simple yet powerful actions to take to demand they vote NO on this health care bill that would be disastrous for seniors, people with disabilities, people with low-incomes, and many others.

Here are four things you can do between now and July 10:

1. Use this social media toolkit with state-specific facts about the health care bill. When you tweet the stats tag your lawmakers using their Twitter handles and also tag members of local media.
2. Call the local offices of your Senators and Representatives and tell them to vote no on ANY bill that would ration health care for seniors and make it more expensive. Call your Governor and tell them to publicly oppose the current bill. You can find out how to reach all of them here. Use the information in the toolkit, this national fact sheet, these state-specific fact sheets, or this issue brief to make your case.
3. Show up at your members’ local offices, public events, 4th of July parades, airports, and anywhere your members will be, with copies of this fact sheet to distribute to other citizens and to members.
4. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. You can adapt the sample text below using the statistics in the Social Media Toolkit to customize the areas in brackets.

Template Letter to the Editor

Congress Must Work Together to Create a Health Care Bill That Actually Provides Health Care

Now that the Senate has hit pause on its mad rush to vote on a health care bill that would rip health care away from millions, it’s time for leaders in both parties to sit down and create a bill that provides coverage for more people at a lower cost. The bill currently under discussion would cut Medicaid by $772 billion in exchange for tax cuts for the wealthy, causing [STATE] to lose [$XX] in Medicaid funding. In addition to paying higher deductibles and premiums, older [STATE] residents would bear the brunt of cuts to Medicaid. For those without substantial life savings or personal wealth, Medicaid is the only way for most older people to get in-home services or nursing home care. [XX%] of [STATE] residents who live in nursing homes rely on Medicaid. I call on Senators [NAME AND NAME] to work with other members of Congress to create a bipartisan health care bill that actually provides health care to average Americans, not just tax cuts for wealthy Americans.

This fight is not over, but if we keep up the pressure we can win! Thanks for all you do.