April 2019

Washington, DC – Speaking today at a press conference, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Doug Jones (D-AL) along with health care advocates and Protect Our Care highlighted the urgent need to protect Medicaid and demand that President Trump end his war on America’s health care. The press conference fell just one day before a key deadline in the Trump Texas lawsuit that would obliterate American health care and rollback Medicaid expansion. The press conference also closed out Medicaid Awareness Month, which has been used as a national call to action by concerned citizens about the importance of Medicaid and the urgent need to stop Republicans and President Trump from sabotaging it.”

“The Trump administration’s assault on the American health care system has reached unprecedented levels,” said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). “Medicaid is one of the most important and most popular health insurance programs in America today. Americans want Medicaid expansion to continue, and they don’t support the Trump administration trying to use the court system to try to strip away coverage and protections from millions of Americans who so badly need it.”

“This should be a bipartisan issue for all Americans and that’s why I’m proud to be here today,” said U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL). “We need to stop the partisan attacks on people’s health care and focus on the ways that we can improve their lives, that we can grow our economy and strengthen our families and our communities.”

“Medicaid is about our kids, it’s about our seniors and it’s about people with disabilities,” said U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA). “If you’re a Republican politician in the Senate or the House and you don’t oppose cuts to Medicaid, you don’t oppose the Trump lawsuit and you don’t oppose sabotage, don’t tell us you support Medicaid or the health care of our kids or our seniors or our friends with disabilities. We have to make sure we continue to protect and defend Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.”

“For far too long, President Trump and his GOP allies in Congress have sought to sabotage the nation’s health care system with their war on Medicaid,” said Protect Our Care executive director Brad Woodhouse. “As communities and families across the country have been talking about the importance of Medicaid this Medicaid Awareness Month, Republican legislatures and President Trump are actively trying to gut it, hellbent on destroying the program relied on by millions of Americans. We are thankful to have leaders Congress like Senators Jones, Murphy and Casey who are fighting to protect Medicaid and understand just how damaging the Trump administration’s actions to gut it will be for American families.”

“My son Rob has a rare disease and he’s one of 35 million Americans for whom Medicaid has been a lifesaver,” said Jeneva Burroughs Stone, a health care advocate and member of Little Lobbyists. “Before Medicaid, medical bankruptcy was a real possibility for my family and nothing prepares you for the staggering costs of raising a child with complex medicaid needs. Survive and thrive, that’s what Medicaid gave my son and that’s what Little Lobbyists wants for all children with complex medical needs and disabilities.”

“I am alive because of Medicaid, and one of the 65 million plus Americans who has gotten necessary, vital medical care because of it,” said Matthew Cortland, a disabilities rights attorney. “I don’t know what I would do without Medicaid, and I don’t know what I would do to survive if the administration’s lawsuit seeking to destroy the entire Affordable Care Act succeeds. I hope the administration does the right thing and withdraws the lawsuit and the ACA continues to be the law of the land for me and patients like me.”

Washington, DC — On May 4, 2017 the Republican-controlled House passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a disastrous piece of legislation that would have dismantled the Affordable Care Act, and ripped health care away from 20 million Americans. Luckily the GOP’s repeal effort was unsuccessful, and two years later, more than sixty of those Republican members who voted for it are no longer in office, and Democrats have taken control of the House. This week, in the days leading up to this two year anniversary of that infamous vote this Saturday, Protect Our Care will be highlighting how the GOP’s failed attempt to pass the ACHA has catalyzed their agenda of sabotage in the years since.

Since the now infamous “victory lap” photo in the Rose Garden after the House GOP vote for the disastrous repeal bill, which ultimately failed, they have continued to sabotage the law at every turn.

Source: Roll Call/Getty Images

Over the next few days Protect Our Care will hold events in states across the country and release fact sheets and digital content that will make clear the contrast between Republican’s sabotage and repeal agenda and Democrats’ lower cost, better care agenda. To kick off this week of activity around the May 4 anniversary, Protect Our Care executive director Brad Woodhouse released the following statement:

“Two years ago, Republican’s went to the White House to dance on the grave of the Affordable Care Act but as it turned out they were digging their own political graves in the process. While they patted each other on the back and swilled beer to celebrate the passage of a bill to strip protections for 130 million people with pre-existing conditions and rip health care away from 20 million Americans, the American people took note and elected a pro-health care Democratic Majority in the House by sending scores of Republicans packing. Even though the GOP bill crashed and burned, leading to a crushing defeat in the midterms, Republicans and President Trump have continued their all-out war on America’s health care in the courts, in Congress, and within the administration. To mark this infamous day in our history we will continue to hold Republicans accountable for their ongoing war on American health care.”

Background:

Fact Sheet: Two Year Anniversary of GOP’s Health Care Repeal

Two years ago, on May 4, 2017, the Republican House of Representatives passed the so-called “American Health Care Act,” or AHCA, a health repeal bill that would have cut coverage, increased costs, and eliminated protections for millions of Americans. The repeal plan allows insurers to charge people over 50 five times more for coverage – what AARP has called an ‘Age Tax’. And, the plan guts protections for people with pre-existing conditions, raising costs for a cancer patient by $150,000.

Last November, their votes on this bill lost Republicans the House in a landslide election for Democrats who ran on ending the the GOP war on health care and protecting people with pre-existing conditions.

Health Care Repeal Would Have Raised Health Care Costs, Especially For Older Americans

Raise Premiums By Double Digits. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that a key part of the American Health Care Act, repealing the requirement that most people have health insurance and was enacted as part of the GOP tax bill, will premiums 10 percent next year.

Impose An Age Tax – Older Americans Pay Nearly $12,000 More. The American Health Care Act would have imposed what the AARP calls an “age tax” on older Americans by cutting the amount of assistance older people receive and by allowing insurers to charge people over 50 fives times more. Nationally, out-of-pocket costs for older people could have increased by as much as $11,917 by 2026.

Surcharge For People With Pre-Existing Conditions. The American Health Care Act would have allowed states to eliminate community rating, meaning insurers would be able to charge people with pre-existing conditions more. This surcharge could have been in the tens of thousands of dollars and even six figures: up to $4,270 for asthma, $17,060 for pregnancy, $26,180 for rheumatoid arthritis and $140,510 for metastatic cancer.

Health Care Repeal Would Have Caused Millions of Americans To Lose Coverage

23 Million Would Have Lost Coverage. By 2026, 23 million U.S. residents would have lost coverage under this bill.

14 Million With Medicaid Would Have Lost Coverage. Under the American Health Care Act, 14 million with Medicaid would have lost their coverage by 2026.

441,300 U.S. Veterans Would Have Lost Coverage. Under the American Health Care Act, 441,400 veterans would have lost their Medicaid coverage nationally.

Health Care Repeal Would Have Meant Weaker Protections For Americans

52 Million Americans Have A Pre-Existing Condition, And Were At Risk For Paying More. The American Health Care Act would have weakened key protections of the Affordable Care Act by allowing states to let insurers charge 52 million Americans with pre-existing conditions more, among other provisions. The bill would have made it more likely insurers would cherrypick young and healthier people, causing costs to skyrocket for older, sicker people.

Women’s Health Would Be In Jeopardy. The American Health Care Act would have blocked millions from accessing birth control, cancer screenings, and other basic health care at Planned Parenthood health centers, eliminated the guarantee of maternity coverage, and newborn care, and allowed insurers to discriminate against women.

Health Care Repeal Would Have Ended Medicaid As We Know It

Medicaid Would Have Been Slashed By $839 Billion. The American Health Care Act would have ended Medicaid as we know it, a 50 year old program that helps seniors, children, people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations get the care they need. It would have slashed Medicaid by $839 billion, ended the funding needed to expand Medicaid, and converted the program into a “per capita cap”, thus ending guaranteed coverage for everyone who has it. As a result, the Republican repeal bill put the health of 77 million, or one in five Americans, who count on Medicaid in grave danger. These cuts would have strained state budgets and undermined efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

Health Care Repeal Would Have Cut Health Care To Give Tax Breaks To The Rich

• CNN Money: Republican health care plan has a big tax break for execs’ pay [3/7/17]
• Buzzfeed: The Republican Health Care Plan Includes A Tax Break For Insurance CEOs [3/6/17]

Video: Here

Washington, DC — Today, while speaking at the NRA Convention, President Trump made his intentions to rip away our health care perfectly clear stating, “We got the individual mandate, the absolute worst part of Obamacare eliminated, now we’re going for the rest. And we had it done except for one vote. You know what I’m talking about. One vote.” In response, Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, released the following statement:

“President Trump will not stop until he’s ripped healthcare away from every American who benefits from the healthcare law – and he’ll brag about it in front of his right wing friends. This President won’t be satisfied until he rips away health care from 20 million Americans, destroys Medicaid and strips protections from over 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions in the process. Voters overwhelmingly rejected his agenda of repeal and sabotage in November but he could care less as long as he gets his way no matter how many Americans are harmed in the process.”

WI Elected Officials, New PPP Poll Make Clear That Wisconsinites Reject Trump’s Health Care Sabotage

Full press call audio here

Washington, DC – On a press call today, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-2) and Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes along with Protect Our Care criticized President Trump ahead of his rally in Green Bay tomorrow for his continued attacks on our health care laws and denounced his disastrous Texas lawsuit, which puts the health care of millions of Wisconsinites at risk. Participants on the call described how Trump’s lawsuit would impact Wisconsinites by eliminating protections for people with pre-existing conditions and gutting Medicaid funding, and destroying the nation’s entire health care system in the process. Also on the call, Jim Williams with Public Policy Polling discussed a new poll which made clear that President Trump’s war on health care is actively hurting his chances of keeping Wisconsin in his win column in 2020.

“If President Trump thought he would get a warm welcome tomorrow in Wisconsin, he’s in for a rude awakening as Wisconsinites are fed up with his relentless and repeated attacks on their health care,” said Representative Mark Pocan. “President Trump has relentlessly attacked our health care system while Wisconsin Republicans cheer him on as he takes action to rip apart our health care laws without regard for the millions of Americans who stand to lose their health care.”

“Voters in Wisconsin sent a clear message in November by electing myself and Governor Evers: they want Medicaid expanded and the relentless attacks on Winscontinites health care from Republicans to end,” said Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes. “Medicaid expansion would help 82,000 more Wisconsinites finally access health care coverage and bring in more than $1 billion in federal funding, and we aren’t going to give up until everyone in Wisconsin has the coverage and care they deserve.”

“Here’s what you won’t hear Trump talk about on stage tomorrow: How his disastrous Texas lawsuit would rip apart the nation’s health care system, and strip coverage from more than 150,000 Wisconsinites and over 20 million Americans,” said Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach. “Wisconsin voters are rejecting Trump’s war on health care, and we are thankful to have leaders like Congressman Pocan and Lieutenant Governor Barnes fighting against his reckless acts of sabotage and moving forward on an agenda of lowers costs and better care for Wisconsinites and all Americans.”

Full press call audio here

From: Jim Williams, Public Policy Polling

Date: April 25, 2019

On the eve of President Trump’s visit to Wisconsin, a new Public Policy Polling survey finds that a majority of Wisconsin voters trust Democrats over President Trump on healthcare. Democrats have a 10-point lead in trust over President Trump on the overall issue of healthcare (52% to 42%) and a 16-point lead with independents (53%-37%). A further 55% trust Democrats more to protect people with preexisting conditions, while 42% trust President Trump.

President Trump’s war on Wisconsin’s health care results in 50% of voters in Wisconsin (and 53% of independents) saying they are less likely to vote for President Trump again in 2020, while only 29% (and 22% of independents) are more likely to support him again. A majority of voters aged 18-45 (56%) and pluralities of voters aged 46-65 (48%) and older than 65 (46%) say they are less likely to vote for President Trump again in 2020 due to the Republican efforts to repeal the ACA.

Trump’s health care agenda is widely rejected by Wisconsinites:

• By 25-points (57% to 32%) people do not support Trump’s lawsuit to strike down the ACA. Support for his lawsuit falls to only 27% with independents.
• A large majority (68% to 18%) further oppose Trump’s proposed budget that cuts $1- trillion from Medicaid and $845-billion from Medicare. A plurality of Republicans (45%) oppose it as do a majority of Democrats (92%) and independents (68%).
• Wisconsin voters also support the Affordable Care Act itself. A majority of voters (58%) oppose repealing the ACA, with only 23% supporting repeal and only 13% of independents supporting Trump’s repeal.

PPP surveyed 762 Wisconsin voters from April 23-24, 2019. The margin of error is +/- 3.6%. This poll was conducted by telephone.

Washington, DC – The Florida House of Representatives is set to vote on HB 995 this week, which would impose some of the harshest work requirements on Medicaid recipients anywhere in the United States–putting over 100,000 Floridians at risk of losing their coverage. Brad Woodhouse, executive director of Protect Our Care, issued the following statement in response:

“Florida Republicans ought to be ashamed of themselves with their latest move to gut Medicaid by instituting brutal so-called ‘work requirements’ on people who so desperately need access to health care. Make no mistake, this is just another Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis inspired effort to sabotage our health care system and kick people off the Medicaid rolls. Even after similar work requirement laws were recently struck down in Arkansas and Kentucky, Republicans in Florida–goaded by President Trump–are more determined than ever to enact these draconian laws, putting in harm’s way the health care of over 100,000 Floridians.”   

Background:

By Refusing To Expand Medicaid, Florida Is Preventing 1,596,000 Floridians From Gaining Coverage. By not fully expanding Medicaid, Florida has restricted its Medicaid program such that only parents earning up to 32 percent of the federal poverty line are eligible to enroll in Medicaid. If Florida expanded its program, 1,596,000 more adults could gain coverage through Medicaid.

More Than 100,000 Low-Income Parents Could Lose Coverage Under Florida Medicaid Work Requirement Bill. As WJCT reports, “More than 100,000 low-income parents could lose health care coverage under a Medicaid work-requirement bill being considered in the Florida Legislature, experts estimate. Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families based its Florida prediction on the impact of similar policies in other states that resulted in roughly 20 percent of Medicaid participants losing coverage. The state estimates that about 500,000 Floridians would fall under the work-requirement rule being debated. And unlike other states, the bill being considered by the Florida House would not make exceptions for parents.”

Restricting Access To Medicaid For Adults Reduces Children’s Coverage. Republican efforts to shrink Medicaid enrollment will harm families. Research tells us that children’s coverage depends in part on their parents’: “When parents lose coverage, children are at greater risk of becoming uninsured, even if they remain eligible for Medicaid and CHIP.”

Seriously.

Watch a leading GOP Senator, Chuck Grassley, completely unable to defend Trump’s indefensible health care repeal and his lawsuit that would overturn health care laws.

He’s confronted by an Iowan worried that the GOP’s health care agenda is “threatening her life”

Watch for yourself.

Grassley tries to convince his voters not to believe the GOP’s health care repeal will ever pass or that Trump’s health care lawsuit will succeed. He literally wants people to believe his words instead of his deeds.

Washington, DC — Today, Georgetown University estimated using CMS released data that more than 861,000 thousand children lost their Medicaid/CHIP coverage in 2018 due to the Trump administration’s repeated attempts to gut the programs. In response to this news, Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach released the following statement:

“The news that over 800,000 children lost their health care due to Republicans’ repeated attempts to gut Medicaid and CHIP is a disgrace and the Trump administration ought to be ashamed for putting the lives of children at risk. If Trump’s desired outcome in his war on America’s health care was to kick hundreds of thousands of children off their insurance, then mission accomplished.”

BACKGROUND

Restricting access to Medicaid for adults reduces children’s coverage. Republican efforts to shrink Medicaid enrollment will harm families. Research tells us that children’s coverage depends in part on their parents’: “When parents lose coverage, children are at greater risk of becoming uninsured, even if they remain eligible for Medicaid and CHIP.”

Going into 2018, Republicans held CHIP funding hostage in an “unprecedented delay” that allowed CHIP’s funding to lapse temporarily. Georgetown’s Center on Children and Families previously cited this lapse in partially explaining the decline in children’s enrollment: “Even states with the best intentions were unable to withstand strong national currents to protect children from losing health coverage. These national currents include a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful congressional effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and cap federal Medicaid funding, as well as an unprecedented delay by Congress that allowed CHIP funding to lapse temporarily. In addition, Congress repealed the ACA’s individual mandate and the Trump Administration made numerous efforts to undermine the ACA Marketplaces, including dramatically cutting outreach and enrollment grants and shortening the open enrollment period.”

President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have repeatedly tried to slash funding for Medicaid and impose per-capita caps on coverage. In 2017, the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) repeal bill, which included a per capita limit on federal Medicaid spending that would have resulted in huge cuts to Medicaid across states. After failing to pass the AHCA in the Senate, Republicans have continued to launch relentless attacks on Medicaid. The Trump administration’s budget for 2020 calls for  $1.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, and would impose a nationwide Medicaid work requirement.

The Trump administration is encouraging states to impose work requirements and other bureaucratic restrictions on Medicaid enrollment in order to deny coverage. Experts warn that work requirements are fundamentally bureaucratic hurdles designed to restrict access to health care rather than increase employment. Already, more than 18,000 have lost their Medicaid in Arkansas because of the work requirement the state imposed last year. Now, the Trump administration is proposing a nationwide work requirement for those with insurance through Medicaid.

President Trump and Congressional Republicans are targeting Medicaid to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest. In 2017, President Trump signed a $1.5 trillion tax bill that disproportionately benefits the wealthy. How do Republicans plan on paying for it? Former Speaker Ryan’s answer was clear: “Frankly, it’s the health care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt.” In an attempt to pay for these tax cuts, last April, House Republicans passed a balanced budget amendment that would slash Medicaid funding by $114 billion in a single year alone. Just a few weeks ago, President Trump announced his FY20 budget which would block grant Medicaid, cutting the program by $1.5 billion over ten years.

President Trump fully backs a lawsuit that would end Medicaid expansion. By expanding access to Medicaid for parents, children were more likely to gain coverage. One study estimated that between 2013 and 2015, 710,000 low income children gained coverage because of Medicaid expansion.

Washington, DC — The Office of Management and Budget is currently reviewing a proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that is expected to weaken enforcement of the Health Care Rights Law (section 1557 of the ACA), which bans LGBTQ discrimination in health care and insurance coverage. Protect Our Care chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement in response:

“Donald Trump and Mike Pence have decided to target women and the LGBTQ community in their ongoing war against American health care. They want to make it harder for transgender people, same-sex parents, pregnant women, and other patients to get the medical care they deserve. LGTBQ Americans and women already face difficulty getting the care they need and this hateful rule is another blow to people who are now treated equally under the law. Every American, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, deserves access to quality and affordable health care. It’s high time for the Trump Administration to quit playing cruel political games that harm our communities.”

Washington, DC — President Trump is coming to Wisconsin for a rally on Saturday, but his visit to the Badger State is overshadowed by his relentless desire to destroy the health care of millions of Americans, including many Wisconsinites. Trump’s Texas lawsuit puts 150,000 Wisconsinites at risk of losing coverage and his ongoing war on Medicaid, combined with Badger State Republican’s refusal to allow expansion of the program puts the health care of tens of thousands more in jeopardy.

“If President Trump’s lawsuit to terminate the healthcare law is successful, it will strip coverage from millions of Americans and thousands of Wisconsinites, raise premiums, end protections for people with pre-existing conditions, put insurance companies back in charge, and force seniors to pay more for prescription drugs,” said Brad Woodhouse, Executive Director of Protect Our Care. “President Trump’s war on Medicaid and Medicaid expansion in particular is a war on children, seniors, people with disabilities, rural Americans, those fighting the opioid crisis, our schools, and everyone else who benefits from Medicaid. Voters in Wisconsin rejected the Republican war on healthcare last year when they showed Scott Walker the door and they want no part of President Trump’s ongoing repeal and sabotage agenda.”

How Trump’s Texas Lawsuit Would Devastate Wisconsinites

• 153,000 Wisconsinites Could Lose Coverage. According to the Urban Institute, 153,000 Wisconsinites would lose coverage by repealing the Affordable Care Act, leading to a 35 percent increase in the uninsured rate.
• 41,000 Wisconsin Young Adults With Their Parents’ Coverage Could Lose Care. Because of the Affordable Care Act, millions of young adults are able to stay on their parents’ care until age 26.
• Protections For The 130 Million People Nationwide With A Pre-Existing Condition Will End. 2,435,700 Wisconsinites have a pre-existing condition, including 308,100 Wisconsin children, 1,187,000 Wisconsin women, and 616,900 Wisconsinites between ages 55 and 64.
• Insurance Companies Could Charge Premium Surcharges In the Six Figures. If the Trump-GOP lawsuit is successful, insurance companies would be able to charge people more because of a pre-existing condition. The health repeal bill the House passed in 2017 had a similar provision, and an analysis by the Center for American Progress found that insurers could charge up to $4,270 more for asthma, $17,060 more for pregnancy, $26,180 more for rheumatoid arthritis and $140,510 more for metastatic cancer.
• Women Could Be Charged More Than Men For The Same Coverage. Prior to the ACA, women were often charged premiums on the nongroup market of up to 50 percent higher than they charged men for the same coverage.
• 86,264 Wisconsin Seniors Could Have To Pay More For Prescription Drugs. If the Trump-GOP lawsuit is successful, seniors could have to pay more for prescription drugs because the Medicare “donut” hole would be reopened. From 2010 to 2016, “More than 11.8 million Medicare beneficiaries have received discounts over $26.8 billion on prescription drugs – an average of $2,272 per beneficiary,” according to a January 2017 CMS report. In Wisconsin, 86,264 seniors each saved an average of $1,129.

How the GOP War on Medicaid Would Devastate Wisconsinites

• 480,642 Wisconsin Children’s Care Is At Risk. 480,642 Wisconsin kids are currently enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, and their care could be at risk because of funding cuts in the Trump budget. 31 percent of Wisconsin children rely on Medicaid for coverage. Medicaid pays almost $4 billion annually in school-based health services. Schools depend on these funds connect students with vital health resources — 68 percent of school superintendents said that they used these funds to keep nurses, counselors, and speech therapists on staff
• 1,020,034 Wisconsinites With Traditional Medicaid Coverage, Including Seniors, People With Disabilities, And Children, Are At Risk. The Graham-Cassidy bill that President Trump revived in his FY20 budget proposal would turn traditional Medicaid into a per capita cap, meaning the 1,020,034 Wisconsinites who are enrolled on Medicaid would have their care jeopardized. Medicaid disproportionately helps children, seniors in nursing home care and people with disabilities. A study by Avalere found that Graham-Cassidy would cut funding for people with disabilities by 15-percent and 31-percent for children by 2036, and the 55 percent of Wisconsin seniors living in nursing homes have coverage through Medicaid.
• Access To Treatment Would Be In Jeopardy For 800,000 People With Opioid Use Disorder. Roughly four in ten, or 800,000 people with an opioid use disorder are enrolled in Medicaid. Many became eligible through Medicaid expansion.