If the Affordable Care Act is saved, it will happen THIS week

This is a serious ‘people should be in the streets with their flaming pitchforks of rage’ moment

Here’s where we are at on repeal of the Affordable Care Act:

1. It was supposed to happen on January 20. It didn’t. That’s good.
2. Some Republicans in the Senate are demanding a replacement be passed along with repeal. Republicans can only lose 2 votes. That’s good.
3. Conservatives in the House insist that any repeal match the repeal bill passed in 2015, which means Medicaid expansion, and any replacement that covers close to as many people as the ACA, is dead. That’s terrible.
4. Members of Congress are headed home to spend a week with their constituents. Good.
5. When they return, they plan to get back to the serious work of uninsuring those constituents — or just making their health insurance weaker. Horrible.

Yes, long-awaited GOP replacement for the Affordable Care Act is set to be officially released when they return.

We’ve been promised such a replacement before and conservatives like Ted Cruz consider it extraneous to the important work of repealing the law so the richest 400 Americans get the $7 million tax break for the 400 richest Americans that will restore freedom throughout the land.

But Republicans won on that “repeal and replace with something terrific” BS and a few Republican Senators actually believe its a good idea to let the 25 million Americans who could be uninsured know what will happen to their decaying flesh machines after the rich get their tax breaks. These scant concerns wouldn’t matter — except Mitch McConnell can only lose two Republican votes to be able to follow through on the one thing his party has been campaigning on for most of a decade.

Remember this:

1. The ACA expanded coverage to 25 million Americans while we had the lowest rate of growth of medical spending in decades.
2. The ACA removed limits on insurance coverage, saving thousands from bankruptcy.
3. The ACA truly ended discrimination against the sick.
4. The ACA made preventative care free for all Americans, including those on Medicare.
5. It has made countless real American lives far better and more worth living.

And repeal will hurt nearly all Americans:

ACA repeal affects many who aren’t aware.

Here are the people impacted on in one place.

RT if you think helpful. pic.twitter.com/1TmP1J1KGD

— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) January 13, 2017

Here’s where you come in.

“Repeal is on life support,” tweeted Topher Spiro, Vice President for Health Policy, Center for American Progress. “YOU can be on the death panel for repeal. Wouldn’t that be sweet justice?”

This means that you need to do 3 things:

1. Contact your Senators and members of Congress and let them know you oppose repeal, whether they are Democrats or Republicans. Check Charles Gaba’s ACASignups.net to find out how many people in your Congressional district will be uninsured by repeal before you contact your reps.
2. Find a local town hall or get in touch with a local Indivisible group to be a part of some effort to get in front of your Member’s face NEXT WEEK.
3. Go to a pro-ACA protest in your area. February 25th is the Save Health Care “Day of Action” and there’s a protest in Jackson, Michigan, for instance.
   You can find other protests here:
   Resistance Recess
   Planned Parenthood

If you know of any specific protests or other ways to get in your member’s face next week put it the comments.

[Image by Keoni Cabral | Flickr]