| Keep Up the Summer Heat on Health Care
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| Conference Recap During our 2017 National Health Care for the Homeless Conference from June 21-24, over 150 HCH Advocates met with over 50 Congressional offices on Capitol Hill. On Friday evening, we gathered outside the White House to Rally for Housing and Health Care for ALL people. To everyone that joined us at HCH2017 and took part in Hill Visits and the Rally: thank you! Whether or not you were able to join us, see how you can continue the momentum under Take Action.
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Health Reform Replacement Bill Introduced in the Senate On June 22nd the Senate revealed their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA). After much contention among advocates and within the Republican party, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the bill will not be considered on the Senate floor until after the Senate returns from Recess on Monday, July 10th.
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What's in the Senate Version? The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated the BCRA would cause 22 million Americans to lose health insurance if this bill became law (including 15 million from Medicaid alone). Much like the House version, the BCRA also would end the Medicaid expansion and instill spending caps, require redetermination every 6 months, and give states the option to create work requirements and water down benefits--along with many other provisions that would disrupt access to care. Use this chart to compare the ACA, the House bill, and the new BCRA.
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Budgetary Matters Recent analysis shows that Trump’s proposed budget would indeed worsen homelessness, eliminating 250,000 Housing Choice vouchers. This past month Secretary Tom Price (HHS) and Secretary Ben Carson (HUD) testified in Congress to defend the Trump budget proposals. We submitted questions for both the HHS hearing, as well as the HUD hearing. Related to HUD funding, 23 Republican Congress members wrote to HUD Secretary Carson opposing HUD’s priority on supportive housing, arguing it disincentivizes work.
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Single-Payer News H.R. 676, the single-payer bill in the House, sits with over 100 co-signers and we are waiting in anticipation for Senator Sanders to introduce a Senate bill before the August Congressional recess. On the State level, California’s bill to create a single-payer system passed the legislature on June 1 but was then pulled back a few weeks later to clarify more details. New York State’s legislature passed a similar measure in May, but it still must clear the state’s Senate. As an interesting alternative, Nevada’s legislature passed a Medicaid-For-All bill, which was then vetoed by the Governor. This may only be the beginning of such proposals, however.
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| Local Advocacy Spotlight A shout-out to Family Health Centers in Louisville, Kentucky! Bill Wagner, CEO, wrote a thoughtful open-letter to his Senator, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, about the importance of compromise and protecting health care coverage. He also joined over 30 organizations on a separate open letter to Senator McConnell, urging him to “STOP the mad rush to pass this bill.” Kudos to Louisville! Have a letter of your own, or other local advocacy to share? Email us!
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Did you receive Mobilizer as a forwarded email or hear about it via social media? Register now to receive our action alerts each month!
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Call (and Keep Calling!): Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or email your Senator and ask them to vote against the deadly Medicaid cuts in the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). Convey some simple messages: - Vote NO on BCRA
- Medicaid saves lives and helps prevent and end homelessness
- Protect Medicaid and do not cap the program
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Have Your Say-- #MedicaidMatters:
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Celebrate HCH Day: Start planning now for HCH Day on August 16. Remember, Congress is on recess during August, so now is the perfect time to invite your Rep for a site visit. Use this example invitation letter.
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This publication and all HCH advocacy are funded by dues from Organizational Members of the Council. Consider joining the Council to support this work.
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