View the video
Washington, DC — On Sunday, March 15, Protect Our Care will set out on a multi-state bus tour in key 2020 battleground states ahead of the 10 year anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act on March 23. In a new video for Protect Our Care released today, former President Barack Obama marks the landmark anniversary and helps launch POC’s “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” by highlighting the importance of his signature health care law which has allowed 20 million Americans to receive health coverage and continues to ensure protections for 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.
President Obama concludes the video by saying: “So even as we celebrate, we commit ourselves to protecting the progress we’ve made until we finish the job for good with quality affordable coverage for every single American. Thank you to Protect Our Care for leading that fight, and to everyone who joins them.”
POC’s tour will kick off this Sunday in St. Paul, Minnesota before traveling to the key 2020 battleground states of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The tour will also include a stop in Washington, DC on March 23 where President Obama and other key health care leaders will hold a panel discussion to mark the anniversary.
Stops along the “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” will include members of Congress, state and local lawmakers, health care advocates, doctors and patients who will speak about how the ACA has made a difference in the lives of those in their communities and how Republicans’ relentless war on health care, including their ongoing lawsuit to overturn the ACA, threatens their health care. The tour will hold vulnerable Republicans like U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (IA) and Thom Tillis (NC) accountable for failing to stop the Trump-Republican war on health care and will promote the work of newly elected House Democrats who are leading the charge to improve and strengthen the health care law and lower costs for Americans’ health care.
Video script:
President Obama:
It’s been ten years since we passed the Affordable Care Act.
With your help, it’s the closest we’ve ever come to universal coverage in America.
There are people alive today because of what you did.
There are 135 million Americans whose pre-existing conditions are now protected because of what you did.
Young people who have been able to stay on their parents plans,
Seniors who’ve had an easier time affording their medicine,
Women who can’t be charged more just because they’re women, and a lot more.
That’s something worth celebrating, but it’s also progress worth protecting.
You helped protect it with your vote in 2018.
But even with a House of Representatives committed to building on the Affordable Care Act, Republicans will keep trying both in Congress and in the courts to rip away the care that millions of Americans rely on and to raise costs for millions more.
So even as we celebrate, we commit ourselves to protecting the progress we’ve made until we finish the job for good with quality affordable coverage for every single American.
Thank you to Protect Our Care for leading that fight, and to everyone who joins them.
Full “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” schedule (more speakers to be added):
Sunday 3/15: St. Paul, MN
WHO: U.S. Senator Tina Smith, stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: St. Paul, MN
WHEN: 1:00 PM CT
Monday 3/16: Des Moines, IA
WHO: Stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard and local elected officials
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Iowa State Capitol, 1007 East Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50139
WHEN: 10:00 AM CT
Monday 3/16: Cedar Rapids, IA
WHO: Stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard and local elected officials
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Cedar Rapids, IA
WHEN: 2:00 PM CT
Tuesday 3/17: La Crosse, WI
WHO: U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (WI-03), stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: La Crosse, WI
WHEN: 10:00 AM CT
Tuesday 3/17: Madison, WI
WHO: WI Attorney General Josh Kaul, stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Madison, WI
WHEN: 2:00 PM CT
Wednesday 3/18: Lansing, MI
WHO: Stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard and local elected officials
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Lansing, MI
WHEN: 10:00 AM ET
Wednesday 3/18: Canton, MI
WHO: U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11), stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard, Beaumont Health Chief Operating Officer
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Beaumont Canton Hospital, 7300 N Canton Center Road, Canton, MI 48187
WHEN: 2:00 PM ET
Thursday 3/19: Wilkes-Barre, PA
WHO: U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-08), stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Wilkes-Barre, PA
WHEN: 1:00 PM ET
Friday 3/20: Allentown, PA
WHO: U.S. Rep. Susan Wild (PA-07), stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Allentown, PA
WHEN: 10:00 AM ET
Friday 3/20: Philadelphia, PA
WHO: PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro, stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Philadelphia, PA
WHEN: 2:00 PM ET
Monday 3/23: Washington, DC
WHO: Former President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, AU President and former HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach, former HHS Secretary and Governor of Kansas Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (PA), Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear, U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14), stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard, political analyst and former senior White House official Paul Begala
WHAT: Protect Our Care Panel Conversation Marking the 10th Anniversary of the Passage of the Affordable Care Act
WHERE: American University, School of International Services Atrium, 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016
WHEN: 12:30-3:30 PM ET
Wednesday 3/25: Charlotte, NC
WHO: Stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard and local elected officials
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Charlotte, NC
WHEN: 9:30 AM ET
Wednesday 3/25: Raleigh, NC
WHO: Stage four cancer survivor Laura Packard and local elected officials
WHAT: Protect Our Care “ACA 10 Anniversary Tour” Press Conference
WHERE: Raleigh, NC
WHEN: 2:30 PM ET