National Groups Call on Congress to “Protect Our Care,” Announce New Coalition to Fight Health Care Repeal

Washington, D.C. — Today, a group of the nation’s most prominent health care and social and economic justice groups called on President-elect Trump and Congress to stop their reckless sprint to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and show how they will provide more affordable and meaningful care, coverage, and consumer protections than the law currently provides. The Protect Our Care Coalition members, including the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Center for American Progress, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Center for Community Change Action, Center for Law and Social Policy, Community Catalyst, Doctors for America, Families USA, MomsRising, NAACP, National Health Law Program, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Urban League, National Women’s Law Center, SEIU, Voices for Progress, and Young Invincibles, issued the following joint statement:

“Repealing the ACA could harm millions, double the number of uninsured by 2019, and throw the U.S. health care system into disarray, according to a recent study from the Urban Institute. It could take affordable health care coverage away from 30 million people, including children and working families covered under the ACA’s Medicaid expansion.

“Millions could face higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and the availability of adequate, affordable coverage for people with pre-existing conditions like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease could be jeopardized. Women could also be denied coverage and charged higher premiums just because of their gender. These people deserve an answer from Congress – not a bait and switch.

“The nation’s hospitals have said repeal would cause economic damage that ‘…will adversely impact patients’ access to care, decimate hospitals’ and health systems’ ability to provide services, weaken local economies…and result in massive job losses.’ And state and local governments could be left holding the bag for the cost of care for those who lose coverage.

“Despite this, some in Congress are rushing forward to repeal the ACA with no guarantee that people in America will have comparable protections restored. This so called ‘Repeal and Delay’ strategy is irresponsible. It would cause significant immediate harm in 2017 by throwing 4.3 million Americans off of coverage, according to the Urban Institute.

“In these uncertain times, working people in America value the safety and security of health coverage more than ever. Before any repeal vote, they deserve to know what is in a replacement plan and see proof that it will provide better, more affordable care, coverage, and consumer protections than the ACA.

“Repeal and Delay” is no better than repeal. American families deserve to know what will happen to them before Congress acts.

“The Protect Our Care Coalition will pool resources and work together to ensure people in America understand the damage of repealing the ACA. Congress should not take away the promise of future coverage without simultaneously voting on a plan that guarantees people will have health and financial security.”

The coalition has designated Leslie Dach as the Campaign Director, who will manage the work between the member groups and implementation at the state level. Additional organizations are expected to join.

• Amina Abbas, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, aabbas@apiahf.org, 202-446-3550.
• K. Kim Atterbury, National Urban League, katterbury@nul.org, 202-629-5750.
• Karen Backus, SEIU, karen.backus@seiu.org, 404-229-7592.
• Liz Bartolomeo, Center for American Progress, lbartolomeo@americanprogress.org 202-481-8151.
• Allegra Baider, Center for Community Change Action, abaider@communitychange.org, 202-339-9336.
• Enrique Chaurand, National Council of La Raza, 202-776-1784.
• Olympia Feil, National Women’s Law Center, ofeil@nwlc.org, 202-588-5180.
• Danielle Gagne, Voices for Progress, dgagne@voicesforprogress.org, 202-499-5257.
• Brannon Jordan Lazo, Doctors for America, Brannon.lazo@drsforamerica.org.
• Jeremy Leaming, National Health Law Program, leaming@healthlaw.org, 202-289-7661.
• Dave Lemmon, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, dlemmon@cbpp.org, 202-408-1080.
• William Lutz, Protect Our Care Coalition, protectourcare@gmail.com, 202-628-3030.
• Kathy Melley, Community Catalyst, kmelley@communitycatalyst.org, 617-275-2861.
• RaeAnn Roca Pickett, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, raeann@latinainstitute.org, 202-621-1409.
• Annette Raveneau, Families USA, araveneau@familiesusa.org, 202-626-0611.
• Hilary O. Shelton, NAACP, hoshelton@naacpnet.org, 202-463-2940.
• Jennifer Taylor, National Partnership for Women & Families, jtaylor@npwf.org 202-986-2600.
• Tom Salyers, Center for Law and Social Policy, 202-906-8002.
• Sarah Schultz, Young Invincibles, sarah.schultz@younginvincibles.org, 202-734-6510.
• Felicia Willems, MomsRising, felicia@momsrising.com.