FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

#CareNotChaos Ad Campaign Begins with Print and Digital Ads in Washington, D.C., Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Nevada, and Tennessee

AD: “Repealing the Affordable Care Act without an immediate plan to replace it is a big risk – like walking off an unfinished bridge.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 12, 2016) – Today, the Alliance for Healthcare Security, a coalition of caregivers and healthcare advocates, launched a major national and state-focused campaign to stop dangerous proposals that would lead to healthcare chaos and threaten the health coverage of 30 million Americans. These ads aim to remind Members of Congress that repealing the Affordable Care Act without an immediate replacement plan that protects our healthcare will plunge the healthcare system into crisis, lead almost immediately to skyrocketing premiums as insurance markets across the country collapse, and could lead state and local governments to raise taxes on working families to cover the cost of cuts to the Medicaid program. The healthcare chaos and financial instability unleashed by a rush to repeal the ACA could prevent nurses, doctors and caregivers from delivering the quality care working Americans are counting on.

The digital and print ad campaign launched today includes ads in Washington, D.C. and key states: Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Nevada, and Tennessee. The Alliance also launched the #CareNotChaos website, www.carenotchaos.com.

Healthcare advocates warn Congress of the dangers of “repeal-and-delay”

“If Congress votes to repeal the ACA and defund the expansion of Medicaid coverage, it will put the health of millions of children, working women and men, and veterans at risk. It will mean we go back to the days before the law when people working two or three jobs could only see a doctor in the emergency room. As a nurse, I know my patients can’t afford to go backward.” – Dian Palmer, RN, Chair, SEIU Nurse Alliance

“Americans need to understand exactly what’s at stake for them if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act without any immediate plan to replace it. Before Congress takes any action on the ACA, we should demand they share the details of their replacement plan and guarantee it will offer better, more affordable care, coverage, and consumer protections than the current law.” – Rob Restuccia, Executive Director, Community Catalyst

“Doctors in every state and community are caring for the millions of Americans who finally got health insurance. We call on Congress to keep our patients covered so we can help them with their diabetes, cancer, asthma, and depression. People’s lives are at stake. We cannot go backward.” – Dr. Alice Chen, Executive Director, Doctors for America

“Repealing the ACA would strip millions of people of health coverage, create uncertainly across the health care spectrum, and roll back important gains in both Medicaid and Medicare.  This would jeopardize access to health care for most families.” – Judith Stein, Executive Director, Center for Medicare Advocacy

Independent experts agree that a “repeal-and-delay” strategy would lead insurance markets to collapse.

According to Larry Levitt, senior vice president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, “Any significant delay between repeal of the ACA and clarity over what will replace it would likely lead insurers to exit the marketplaces in droves… It would be like a game of musical chairs,” Levitt said. “When the music stops, no insurer wants to be the only one left in the market with all of the sick people.”

According to health insurance consultant Robert Laszewski, a full repeal risks significant numbers of insurers dropping out of the marketplace: “insurers have got to put their products together this spring, and we’re right in the middle of killing Obamacare,” says. “Are they going to submit proposals to sell in 2018? Why would they stay in the pool?”

A recent report from the Center for American Progress stated that repeal-and-delay legislation would “unravel the market even before it does into effect.” “Even with a delayed effective date, the reconciliation bill approach would cause massive disruption and chaos in the individual market for health insurance. The complete unraveling of the market would occur by the end of 2017.”

In a letter to Congress, the American Academy of Actuaries warned that repeal-and-delay could lead to major disruptions to insurance markets.”[S]ignificant market disruption could result, leading to millions of Americans losing their health insurance,” the independent, non-partisan organization wrote.

A new study from the non-partisan Urban Institute highlights what’s at stake for American families.

  • 30 million Americans would lose health coverage, more than doubling the number of uninsured Americans.
  • The number of uninsured children in America would more than double, leaving 4 million children uninsured.
  • Nearly 13 million Americans would lose Medicaid or CHIP coverage alone.
  • 82 percent of those who would lose coverage are in working families.
  • Because of the chaotic ripple effect of repealing the Affordable Care Act, an “additional 7.3 million people become uninsured because of the near collapse” of the individual insurance market.
  • The near “death spiral” in the individual market “is likely to occur immediately after the reconciliation bill’s provisions take effect.”

The Alliance for Healthcare Security includes 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Alliance for Retired Americans, American Medical Student Association, American Medical Women’s Association, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., Center for the Independence of the Disabled of NY, Community Catalyst, Community Service Society of NY, Doctors for America, Families USA, Medicare Rights Center, National Medical Association, National Partnership for Women and Families, National Physicians Alliance, Network for Patient Advocacy, New Yorkers for Accessible Health Coverage, NYC Coalition to Dismantle Racism in the Health System, Physicians for a National Health Program, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Service Employees International Union, and the United Spinal Association. More information may be found at CareNotChaos.com.

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