#ProtectPrevention: Stop ACA Repeal in the Senate

June 29, 2017

This is it. It's do or die—literally—when it comes to protecting our healthcare. There's a reason the Senate pushed back the vote on the Better Care Reconciliation Act, their terrible ACA repeal plan: it would devastate so many lives they couldn't even get half the Senate to support it. That's no surprise, considering 22 million would lose health insurance, premiums would go up and according to a new review from the Annals of Internal Medicine, 28,600 more people could die every year if the proposed bill becomes law. Only 12% of Americans think it's a good idea.

But we can't stop. Senators are trying to tweak the bill right now and another Senate vote may come quickly after the July 4th recess. It may get sent back to the House for a final vote within hours or days after that. We know you've done so much already, but we all have to keep pushing. The coming days may be our last shot at protecting healthcare and prevention for everyone.

Even if you have called or acted already, even if you are sure your Senators are voting against this devastating bill, we need you to act again today. 

Call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121, or click and share our Facebook post to get the word out. See below for more ways to take action.

Act now

• Call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected to your Senator's offices (be sure to check our list, below, to see top priority Senate targets). You can also click here to look up your Senators and their contact information. Tell your Senators to vote against the bill, ask them to publicly oppose it now, and talk about the importance of continued investments in public health and prevention. Even if you've called before, now is the time to call again.
• Not in a priority state? Already called your Senators about ACA repeal today? Click here to share our Facebook post so that we can reach every voter in every state—don't forget to tag your friends in priority states to ask them to call.

• Protect our care. Repealing the ACA would leave millions of Americans without access to quality, affordable insurance. It's not fair to leave the people who are more vulnerable—elderly, poor and rural Americans—to pay huge increases while the wealthy get breaks to save money at their expense.
• Protect public health. The ACA does more than increase healthcare coverage—it also contributes directly to state and local public health departments and community-based health and safety initiatives, like CDC funding, vaccines, and other critical programs to address and prevent infectious disease and other outbreaks. Without these funds, our nation will be less prepared to tackle illnesses and diseases. As a result, there will be more premature deaths, more preventable disease, and higher healthcare costs.
• Protect prevention. Part of the ACA, the Prevention and Public Health Fund invests in proven strategies to prevent chronic and infectious diseases. Eliminating this funding stream would lead to an increase in preventable disease and death, and would put the security of our nation at risk.

More ways to take action

• Share our post on Facebook so we can reach every voter in every state. Don't forget to tag your friends in priority states and ask them to call, too.
• Send a tweet: Call now to stop ACA repeal in the Senate! See how with tips from @phidotorg: http://bit.ly/PROTECTPUBLICHEALTH #ProtectPrevention #ProtectOurCare
• Send an email to friends and colleagues, and ask them to call their Senators.
• Read the joint statement from the American Public Health Association, Prevention Institute, Public Health Institute and Trust for America's Health: "The fight to protect public health is more important than ever." 
• Sign up for our alerts to stay in the loop about this and other advocacy opportunities to protect public health.