Thanks to the actions of AFSCME activists and concerned constituents across the nation, the Senate Republican health care bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act has lost the needed votes to pass and has been deemed "dead on arrival."
The American Health Care Act, the Republican-sponsored plan, was stopped in its tracks after two Republican senators defected and pulled their support for the bill. The AHCA, also known as Trumpcare, cut Medicaid, reduced taxes for the wealthiest Americans and denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions, to name a few of the bill's flaws.
“Governing should be about raising up Americans, not letting them slip through the cracks. But that’s exactly what this ugly bill does, and why I urge senators to kill it,” said Wendy Smith, an AFSCME local president​ who spoke at a People's Filibuster event yesterday in Washington about the dangers of the Republican health care bill. ​Smith is a community health nurse for the Baltimore City Health Department and knows, first hand, the impact that massive health care cuts and denial of coverage would have on the citizens she serves.
It was actions like this Democrat, union, and religious leader event and phone calls and emails across the nation that helped put the pressure on senators to step away from the bill. However, some Republican senators did not support the bill because it didn't cut enough. Read more.
OCSEA and AFSCME is hopeful that legislators will stop wasting precious time and make compromises to improve the ACA. Union leaders also want legislators to put their focus on legislation that creates jobs, improves infrastructure and builds up the middle class.