Help! All hands on deck to defeat Graham Cassidy! Things you can do....

[Tanuki]

From Tony Garr of TN Health Care Campaign:

"We are close to losing everything we struggled for during the last 10 years. Everyone is needed to take action by calling and emailing Senator Alexander.

If you can take another step and help with phone banking, call Tony Garr at 615-603-9747. You do not have to be living in Nashville to help. Call me at 615-603-9747 and I can email you what you can do from your home.

Calls need to be made to Senator Alexander this week and again on Monday the 25th. Hearings are scheduled on Monday in Washington on the Graham-Cassidy bill with a vote to follow on Tuesday or Wednesday. This bill will repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Alexander is leaning to support it even though it will have terrible consequences for Tennesseans. YOUR HELP IS DESPERATELY NEEDED.

Need Volunteers: PHONE BANKING at THCC’s office, 1321 Murfreesboro Pike, Suite 311, Nashville, TN 37217 or from you home. If you can help call 615-603-9747. If you cannot make it to the office, call me and I can email information to do this from you home.

When: Friday, Sept. 22: 10 AM to 4 PM
Saturday, Sept. 23: 10 AM to 3 PM
Sunday, Sept. 24: 2 PM to 5 PM
Monday, Sept. 25: 10 AM to 8 PM

Call Senator Alexander now!
Call his DC office: [phone]
And call his Nashville Office: [phone]
Fax Number: [phone] - Write a note demanding that Alexander vote NO.
Also send him an email at: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/TN

Also show up at a Rally: If you live in Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, or Jackson, there is a rally near you. Here is a list: https://www.facebook.com/THCC2/photos/pb.732450163432231.-2207520000.1506016540./1663409843669587/?type=3&theater

Talking Points: The Graham-Cassidy will allow states to re-instate pre-existing conditions, allowing insurance companies to charge more. And, even though, the states will have more flexibility, it will be with much fewer dollars and Medicaid will be changed to a Block Grant, still leaving the 300,000 working poor who fall in the Coverage Gap without insurance.

Yesterday, the Tennessean reported what Wendy Long, TennCare Director, had said previously about block grants, "a block grant would mean the state lawmakers would have hard decisions about who and what to cover under the program.” Craig Becker, CEO of the TN Hospital Association, said that hospitals, especially rural hospitals, would be hurt. The THA and the American Hospital Association are opposed to Graham-Cassidy. This very bad bill would also let the states choose what benefits to cover with fewer dollars, with no guarantee for mental health parity, cancer coverage, and other chronic medical conditions. And, this is happening without crucial information from the Congressional Budget Office with estimates of how many people will lose their coverage.
Attached is the press release from Families USA, a national health care advocacy group. Also below is more detail information from Save Our Care. Call me if you have any questions. Feel free to use what makes sense for your group.

We’re on the brink of health care repeal

Last week, Senate Republicans unveiled the Graham/Cassidy health care repeal bill. The truth is this is their last ditch bill in a series of secretive, partisan attempts to take health care away from millions of Americans.
But the bill is gaining momentum, and needs to be stopped.

Like its predecessors, this bill would have serious consequences. Here’s what it would do:

The bill completely eliminates Medicaid expansion, which has extended coverage to 11 million low-income adults.
The bill also cuts $175 BILLION from Medicaid, ending the program as we know it.
The bill completely eliminates the payments that currently help almost 9 million people afford coverage, AND zeros-out assistance to moderate-income working people buying individual market coverage.
The bill waives the ACA’s prohibition on charging people with preexisting conditions higher premiums, and lets states waive essential health benefits like mental health care, and maternity care.
The bill is a disaster, and if it passes, millions will lose coverage while premiums and costs skyrocket. It is just as cruel as the repeal and replace efforts we defeated over the summer.

When this began, experts thought it wasn’t possible to stop the repeal effort. But the public response was so deafening that Congress could not ignore it. We know our calls and our visits can change the tide, so once again, we must stop it.


IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT GRAHAM-CASSIDY:

MASSIVE STATE BY STATE FUNDING CUTS. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report showing in 2027, every state in the nation would see federal funding cuts under Graham-Cassidy, totaling nearly $300 billion.

NO FULL CBO SCORE. The Congressional Budget Office announced it would not be able to produce a complete analysis on Graham-Cassidy that includes the impact on deficits, how many will lose coverage or the increase in premiums by September 30. Senator Bill Cassidy admitted “I just don’t care about the coverage numbers.”

PRE-EXISTING CONDITION PREMIUM HIKES. The Center for American Progress released a report showing how much more people with pre-existing conditions would pay each year under Graham-Cassidy. For example, an individual with asthma would face a premium surcharge of $4,340. The surcharge for pregnancy would be $17,320 and $142,650 more for patients with metastatic cancer.

WORSE THAN BEFORE. Fitch Rating Agency found that this bill was “more disruptive for most states than prior Republican efforts.” The Washington Post found this bill is worse than previous health care repeal bills, writing “"The latest Obamacare overhaul bill gaining steam on Capitol Hill slashes health-care spending more deeply and would likely cover fewer people than a July bill that failed precisely because of such concerns."

MORE UNINSURED VETS. Rand Corp study showing Republican repeal efforts would increase the number of uninsured veterans. The report showed that the ACA’s Medicaid expansion had increased coverage for low-income veterans who lived further from VA facilities. The report found that the ACA was responsible for reducing the uninsured rate of veterans by about one-third, from 9.1% to 5.8%, in 2015.

MORE UNINSURED CHILDREN. The Center for American Progress released an analysis showing that children are at immediate risk of losing coverage in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Utah with CHIP funding running out quickly.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS OPPOSE. The AARP, AMA, six leading physician groups, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and 15 more high-profile patient groups and Children’s Hospital Association are all unified in opposing the Republican repeal bill.

GOP GOVERNORS OPPOSE. Republican Governors from Alaska, Ohio, Massachusetts and New Hampshire have come out against the plan.

FAILS THE MCCAIN TEST. The NYT's David Leonhardt's column, "John McCain Faces a New Test of His Principles."

RAND PAUL IS A 'NO.' GOP Senator Rand Paul opposes Graham-Cassidy, writing in an op-ed, “In all ways, this bill is also ObamaCare Lite. In no way is it repeal the way we promised. I will oppose this bill as I did the other fake repeal bills, and I urge those who want repeal to do so, as well.“

INCLUDES THE AGE TAX. This repeal bill still lets insurance companies charge up to 5 times more for people over 50, what AARP has dubbed an “Age Tax”.


Take care,

Tony Garr, Board Member
Tennessee Health Care Campaign
[e-mail]
615-603-9747 Cell. "