 | |
|
If the Senate passes its health care bill, its impact will be harmful and immediate. People will lose their lives if this bill becomes law. 15 million people will lose their healthcare by next year, and 22 million will lose insurance by 2026. Senators are still trying to ram it through so the time to act is now.
If there’s one thing you do to stop this, use this number to call your senator: 1-888-738-3058. It will automatically connect you and prompt you on what to say: Oppose the Senate healthcare bill and protect Medicaid.
The Senate healthcare bill is set to eliminate essential health benefits (currently guaranteed under the current Affordable Care Act, ACA or “Obamacare”), including:
- Maternity care for millions of expecting mothers.
- Medicaid funding for people with disabilities and seniors in nursing homes.
- Substance abuse and mental health treatment.
- Reduced opioid treatment funding by 85-90%, hurting rural areas where opioid addiction is a tragic epidemic killing more than 90 people every day.
This Senate bill lets states opt out, which means insurance companies can ignore provisions requiring coverage of these kinds of essential care. Taking money away from seniors, people in poverty, expectant mothers and people with disabilities is plain wrong—it's wrong for faith and wrong for our nation.
The Senate bill does provide this: a $1 trillion tax cut that transfers wealth to the richest of the rich who need it least, while cutting Medicaid, which provides medical care to low income people, by over $880 billion.
Could this reverse-action Robin Hood—taking from the most vulnerable in our nation to give tax breaks to the wealthiest—be why the Senate is attempting to quietly rush this bill to a vote and onto Trump’s desk to sign into law? We cannot let this rush through the Senate to succeed.
Faith leaders are more concerned about saving healthcare for 22 million people, rather than partisan bickering over who will score a political “win.” We call for a faithful agenda, and any change to current law must improve access, affordability and quality of care for our nation’s people.
We must put people, not profit or partisan ideology, at the center of our decision-making. It’s time to improve the Affordable Care Act to save lives and improve health in the long run, not take coverage away from millions.
Congress would do well to recall the words of Pope Francis, “Health is not a consumer good but a universal right.” Will they withhold this right from the millions of Americans who will suffer under this proposed legislation?
We must stop this bad bill once and for all. Please call your senators now: 1-888-738-3058.
We can’t look back and wonder if there was more we could have done. Please call and share this email and phone number with your friends and family and ask them to call, too. Visit your Senators local offices and demand they do everything in their power to stop this bill before it becomes deadly law.
Senators are already starting to get skittish. Let’s keep up the momentum. The next few days could make or break the lives of so many.
Peace,
Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS
And the Auburn Senior Fellows:
Bishop Gene Robinson
Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, San Francisco Area, The United Methodist Church
Brian McLaren, author and activist
Rabbi Stephanie Kolin, Central Synagogue
Valarie Kaur, author and activist
Rev. Peter Goodwin Heltzel, Ph.D., Director Micah Institute at New York Theological Seminary
Rabbi Sharon Brous, IKAR
The Rev. Dr. Jacqueline J. Lewis, Senior Minister, Middle Collegiate Church
Noel Castellanos, President, CCDA
Rev. Jennifer Butler, CEO, Faith in Public Life
Rev. Michael-Ray Mathews, PICO
Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson, President, Auburn Seminary
Rev. Dr. William Barber II, President & Senior Lecturer, Repairers of the Breach
Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Sensei, Spiritual Director & Founder, newDharma Community & Center for Transformative Change
Bishop Yvette Flunder |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment