For Immediate Release: Friday, July 28, 2017
Contact: Robyn Shapiro, robyn.shapiro@
Senate Victory is a Testament to Incredible Power of Grassroots Pressure
The Fight Continues to Beat Efforts to End Medicaid and Medicare to Give Huge Tax Breaks to the Wealthy
Washington, D.C. – Margarida Jorge and Ethan Rome, co-directors of Health Care for America Now, released the following statement following the Senate’s failure Friday to pass the so-called “Skinny Repeal” bill of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
“This victory is an extraordinary testament to the people across the country who rose up and refused to be silent in the face of such a grave threat to America’s health care. Thanks to incredible organizing and relentless pressure from constituents, we defeated this bill – a bill many thought was unstoppable.
“Every single repeal bill the Senate has considered would have the same devastating effects – stripping health care from millions and making people pay more for worse care – all in the name of huge tax breaks for the wealthy and drug and insurance companies.
“Just as Congressional Republicans were willing to pass any repeal bill they could muster the votes for, regardless of the damage it would cause, we know they will continue to come after Medicaid and Medicare to pay for huge tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations. We have not seen the last of their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But they haven’t seen the last of us either. We will be there fighting back every step of the way. We will stop them in their tracks.
“We will hold Members of Congress accountable for their votes to destroy America’s health care and lift up the those who were willing to take a stand – starting with dozens of events across the country this Saturday as part of “Our Lives on the Line” day of action. People from red states and blue states alike have made very clear that they do not want Congress messing with their health care.
“Now is the time for the Trump Administration and Republican leadership to abandon their efforts to sabotage health care. Now is the time to work in a bipartisan way to expand access to affordable care. And it’s past time to fully fund the Cost Sharing Reduction payments.”
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Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is the national grassroots coalition that ran a $60 million five-and-a-half year campaign from 2008-2013 to pass, protect, and promote the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and protect Medicare and Medicaid. HCAN has come back together to fight the Republicans’ all-out effort to take away America’s health care and put people at the mercy of the health insurance companies again.
