Senate Voting on the American Health Care Act
posted
on Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Our latest information from Capitol Hill is that the Senate will take up the American Health Care Act (AHCA) for a vote the week of June 26. We have heard that they will start with the House version and then replace it with a Senate version at the end of the debates. This means we will NOT see the bill before it comes up for a vote! NOW is the time to thank your Democratic Senators for their no votes and convince your Republican Senators to also vote "NO" on the AHCA because of how it harms people with disabilities. Specifically, the current bill fails people with disabilities because:
- It would lock in Medicaid rates from FY2016 by using that year as a baseline forever.
- It does not require states to spend any of its Medicaid disability money on disability programs.
- It creates a significant budget shortfall for disability programs in the immediate future.
This will become a reality for the Medicaid program if you do not speak up LOUDLY, CLEARLY AND OFTEN. All of your Senators regardless of party need to hear from you personally and repeatedly over the next two weeks -either to vote "NO" on the AHCA or to bring attention to the risks it poses to the disability community.
Call Your Senators TODAY! The calling tool (click here) makes it easy - all you need is your phone! After you fill out a form to identify your Senators, the tool will give you scripts for Republicans and Democrats and the phone numbers to your Senators' DC offices. Call several times because your Senators will not take your concerns to heart unless they see you are committed, and it will take persistence to show them that you will not accept the AHCA.
Share this alert far and wide, encourage your consumers, families and colleagues to participate, and together, we can Save Our Services!