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In News, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on Latest Republican Repeal Plan

As Republican organizations and leaders release yet another proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“Republicans just can’t seem to take a hint. Today, they’re back to push a repackaged version of the same repeal bill that Americans firmly rejected last year. It’s a tired retread of the same old proposals to gut protections for people with pre-existing conditions, impose an age tax on older Americans, and pave the way for huge Medicaid cuts. Despite repeated pleas from the American people, Republicans simply refuse to stop pushing their destructive repeal-and-sabotage agenda, but they have no problem putting power back in the hands of insurance companies, giving hundreds of billions in tax breaks to pharmaceutical companies, and going back on their promises to rein in drug prices. The Republican establishment can come up with a million plans to repeal our health care, but our answer is still the same: NO. Republican politicians should denounce this new effort, end their war on the our health care, and get to work on bipartisan solutions to bring down costs and protect our care.”

ashoup
In News, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on McConnell Pre-Existing Conditions Claim

After Mitch McConnell claimed to reporters that “everybody I know in the Senate — everybody — is in favor of maintaining coverage for pre-existing conditions,” Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“Lie of the year. Hands down.”

BACKGROUND

Not one Republican U.S. Senator has called on President Trump’s Department of Justice to back off its outrageous argument that pre-existing condition protections should be ruled unconstitutional and taken away from up to 132 million Americans.

Republican Senators actively support and want to codify the Trump Administration’s short-term and association health plan proposals, which would encourage Americans to buy products that are allowed to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.Since 2013, McConnell has repeatedly pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act “root and branch.” The Affordable Care Act guaranteed protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions, which did not exist prior to its passage, and would be repealed if the Affordable Care Act were eliminated root and branch.

ashoup
In Statement, News

Protect Our Care Statement on Historic DOJ Health Care Sabotage

After a partisan team of Department of Justice lawyers decided to abandon the rule of law in order to help a lawsuit that could eliminate the Affordable Care Act overnight, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse made the following statement:

“The Trump Administration just made history by undermining the rule of law in order to continue its no-holds-barred war on American health care. By abandoning its legal and constitutional responsibilities to defend the law of the land, Jeff Sessions’ Department of Justice is prioritizing a political vendetta over centuries of legal precedent. If Trump and Sessions have their way, the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion will disappear overnight, stealing coverage from millions of Americans, winding back the clock on people with pre-existing conditions, and undermining the stability of the U.S. economy. Tonight, as the President and his Administration launch their most dangerous sabotage effort yet, we are seeing just how far Republicans are willing to go in their quest to undermine the American health care system. And by sowing even more uncertainty into the health care markets, tonight’s action could encourage insurance companies to propose even higher rate increases than the double-digit hikes already threatening to hit American families next year.”

ashoup
In News, Stories, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on National Cancer Survivors Day

Washington, D.C. – Today, as Americans across the country recognize National Cancer Survivors Day, the Trump Administration and Washington Republicans continue to threaten crucial pre-existing condition protections that allow millions of survivors to access coverage and care. Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following the statement:

“On National Cancer Survivors Day, we recognize the millions of American cancer survivors and support those currently battling this disease. We all have a friend, family member, co-worker, or neighbor who has faced cancer, and we all want to make sure they have the regular doctor visits necessary to defeat cancer or keep it in remission.

“But Washington Republicans continue to push policies that will make life harder, not easier, for those battling cancer. Just this week, Republican Senators started pushing yet another bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, with a proposal that allows states to waive protections for people with pre-existing conditions like cancer and paves the way for re-implementation of lifetime limits on coverage. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is trying to let insurance companies sell short-term junk plans that can refuse to enroll people with a history of cancer and pick and choose which services to cover, including even basic care like hospitalization and prescription drugs.

“Today, as we celebrate the courageous Americans in our lives who have faced cancer, let us also reaffirm our commitment to a health care system that works for them, not against them.”

BACKGROUND

Since taking office, President Trump has unveiled two budgets with massive cuts to the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health; hosted a White House celebration for a GOP bill the American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network said contained ‘numerous provisions [which] would adversely impact access to adequate and affordable health insurance coverage for cancer patients and survivors’; and signed legislation repealing the individual mandate, which ACS-CAN explained ‘leaves cancer patients, survivors and all those with serious illnesses at risk of being priced out of the individual health insurance market.’ On Friday, the Community Alliance of Oncologists filed a lawsuit against the Trump White House Office of Management and Budget and HHS to stop the Administration’s proposed Medicare drug reimbursement cuts, noting that Trump’s recent prescription drug proposal would harm cancer patients.

ashoup
In News, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on Virginia Medicaid Expansion

After the Virginia Senate voted to approve Medicaid expansion, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach released the following statement:

“Today’s vote in Virginia is a smack in the face to the Trump Administration and the Republicans in Congress who keep pushing an out-of-touch, anti-health-care agenda. While they keep voting for health care repeal and sabotaging the system, Virginia voters demanded – and won – expanded coverage. Up to four hundred thousand Virginians will gain coverage through today’s Medicaid expansion, a tremendous step for Virginia’s health care system and its economy. In the four years since states began expanding Medicaid, more than fifteen million Americans have gained coverage, giving these individuals and families control of their health care and providing peace of mind that a medical emergency will no longer result in bankruptcy, or worse. While it’s unfortunate that Virginia Republicans insisted on imposing work requirements as a precondition for this achievement, today’s vote highlights growing momentum across the country to expand access to health care. Virginia is the latest state to do the right thing, but it surely won’t be the last. Thanks to everyone who never gave up on this fight, from grassroots organizers across the Commonwealth to leaders in Richmond, who have today secured a landmark achievement for Virginia.”

 

ashoup
In News, Stories, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on Idaho Medicaid Expansion Ballot Question Success

Washington, D.C. – After Idaho health care advocates announced that they have collected more than enough signatures to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot this November, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“While Idaho Governor Butch Otter was working to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, the people of Idaho were quietly working to secure a vote on covering 62,000 more of their neighbors by expanding Medicaid. Today they succeeded. Republican-governed states would do well to take heed: when you actively work to make your constituents’ health coverage worse, citizens take matters into their own hands. Congratulations to the people of Idaho, and especially to the committed grassroots activists who secured today’s success. I couldn’t imagine a better way to cap off this year’s Medicaid Awareness Month.”

ashoup
In News, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on Arkansas’ Draconian Medicaid Plan

The Trump Administration just approved yet another damaging proposal to cut Medicaid, this time in Arkansas. The newly approved waiver, which imposes a red-tape-heavy work requirement that places first-in-the-nation burdens on Arkansas Medicaid enrollees with jobs and on those with disabilities, threatens 60,000 Arkansans and has been deemed even “more punitive” than Kentucky’s draconian waiver by the Arkansas Times.

Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“Arkansas is the latest state to fall for the Trump Administration’s wrongheaded push to cut Medicaid and leave more vulnerable citizens without coverage. Analysis after analysis after analysis after analysis shows that these Medicaid requirements actually make it harder for lower-income people to find a job and stay at work, and really have only one aim: denying people coverage. By imposing onerous monthly paperwork requirements on working people and forcing Arkansans with disabilities to re-prove their exempt status every two months, today’s Arkansas plan breaks new ground in needless and ideologically-driven cruelty.

“In another dangerous precedent, the Trump Administration has refused to affirm what the Affordable Care Act says in black and white: Medicaid expansion dollars are only available to expand Medicaid, and Arkansas’ blatantly unacceptable proposal to kick those making between around $12,000 and $17,000 a year off the rolls is illegal and wrong. This cruel proposal should be rejected outright.

“Unfortunately, Arkansas is the latest state taking its cues from the Trump Administration’s relentless war on Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Unless President Trump and the Administration cease their attacks, states like Arkansas will keep following them down this dark path, and Americans across the country will keep losing their coverage. Enough is enough – it’s time for the GOP to end its war on Americans’ care.”

ashoup
In News, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on 11.8 Million Final Open Enrollment Total

Meta Capitol

After final confirmation that 11.8 million people nationwide purchased 2018 health insurance through the individual insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act, meaning that despite a year of aggressive sabotage by the Trump Administration, overall enrollment equaled 96% of last year’s total, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“The American people are our own best health care advocates, and today’s enrollment total shows that we keep on beating the odds. This year’s open enrollment succeeded thanks to an untold number of enrollment assisters, community activists, health care professionals, and volunteers who did what their government refused to and helped their fellow Americans get covered.

“Despite everything the Trump Administration threw in their way, the high number of people who bought comprehensive insurance through the individual insurance marketplaces this year, 11.8 million, shows that the marketplaces are an essential component of the American health care system. Enrollment could have been even higher this year, but unfortunately, the cumulative effect of Trump’s year of sabotage was that too many Americans faced higher prices or fewer choices, as well as new hurdles to enrollment.

“The millions of people who bought coverage deserve a Congress that will protect and improve their access to care, but instead, their own Republican elected officials continue to sabotage the Affordable Care Act. They have already spiked next year’s premiums double digits by repealing the individual mandate and will do even more damage if they refuse to address and fix President Trump’s administrative sabotage.

“Along with Medicaid expansion, the marketplaces are how the Affordable Care Act succeeded in driving the American uninsured rate down to historic lows. Clearly Americans want and need to shop on their own for coverage in a marketplace where they can’t be denied for having a pre-existing condition or priced out based on their age, gender, or medical history.

“Despite the odds, this year’s enrollment total was 96% of last year’s. When you look at the numbers, it’s clear that with nurturing instead of sabotage, these marketplaces could keep expanding access to coverage and help reverse the increase in the uninsured rate that’s being caused by President Trump and his Republican allies’ war on our care.”

ashoup
In News, Stories, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on World Cancer Day

Today the world unites to recognize World Cancer Day, raise awareness, and call for governmental actions to combat this terrible disease. Unfortunately, here at home the Trump Administration has taken numerous steps which could make life even more difficult for Americans with cancer. On World Cancer Day, Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following the statement:

“On World Cancer Day, we pause and reflect. For too long this devastating disease has caused untold pain and suffering without regard for circumstance. One of today’s main goals is to encourage further governmental action to fight cancer; sadly, we know our country could be doing more.

“Over the past year, President Trump unveiled a budget which cut $1 billion from the National Cancer Institute, as well as a twenty percent cut for the National Institutes of Health; he hosted a White House celebration for a GOP bill the American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network said contained ‘numerous provisions [which] would adversely impact access to adequate and affordable health insurance coverage for cancer patients and survivors,’ including the re-implementation of lifetime caps, increased costs tied to pre-existing conditions, and penalties for those with coverage gaps; and he signed legislation repealing the individual mandate, which ACS-CAN explained ‘leaves cancer patients, survivors and all those with serious illnesses at risk of being priced out of the individual health insurance market.’

“On this World Cancer Day, let us unite as a nation to affirm our support for a health care system that provides the best care possible for those with cancer and bans discrimination against cancer survivors, and keep working toward a cure.”

ashoup
In News, Statement

Protect Our Care Statement on What Should Have Been the Last Day of Open Enrollment

After the states that stuck with the original Open Enrollment schedule wrapped up strong enrollment seasons last night, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“If President Trump hadn’t sabotaged Open Enrollment by cutting the signup period in half for the 36 states using HealthCare.Gov, yesterday could have marked the end of the annual sign-up season nationwide. But here’s the good news: despite the Trump Administration’s sabotage, millions of Americans again signed up for comprehensive coverage. Before the final numbers come in, we have already reached 96% of last year’s enrollment total nationwide. This year’s enrollment season succeeded thanks to thousands of enrollment assisters, community activists, and volunteers who banded together to do what the Trump Administration refused to: help their fellow Americans get covered. It’s time for Republicans to stop their war on health care, which stopped even more people from signing up by driving up unsubsidized premiums, because it’s clearer than ever that Americans want and need quality, affordable coverage.”

 

 

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