To defend the ACA, please contact your friends in NV, WV, AK, OH and AZ!

Please contact your friends in Nevada, West Virginia, Alaska, Ohio, and Arizona and ask them to call or write their Senator's health staffer. You can find your friends in those states by typing “friends in [Nevada]” in the Facebook search bar. 

You can tell your friends:

It’s do-or-die time for repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Voting starts tomorrow.

If repeal of the Affordable Care Act passes, 22 million Americans will lose their health insurance and most of us will face higher premiums and/or deductibles (especially if we are old or sick, or will someday get old or sick). 

Please call the health staffers of the following undecided Republican Senators and tell them that you oppose repeal of the ACA. If you have a personal story, that would be great too.

Contact Info

Murkowski (AK), (202) 224-6665, Morgan Griffin, Morgan_Griffin@murkowski.senate.gov

Capito (WV), (202) 224-6472, Dana Richter, dana_richter@capito.senate.gov

Portman (OH), (202) 224-3353, Sarah Schmidt, sarah_schmidt@portman.senate.gov

Heller, (NV), (202) 224-6244, Rachel Green, rachel_green@heller.senate.gov

McCain (AZ), 202-224-2235, David Bennet, david_bennett@mccain.senate.gov

Flake (AZ), 202-224-4521, Helen Heiden, helen_heiden@flake.senate.gov

Loss of protections for people with pre-existing conditions would disproportionately hurt states won by Trump

Before the ACA, insurance companies either denied coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charged them more than other people for their coverage (this was only true in the individual market, not the employer-provided market). As a result, millions of Americans were unable to find affordable coverage. The ACA outlawed this practice, but the new Republican health care proposal will allow it again in most states. 

Insurers will still be required to cover everyone who can afford coverage, but they will be able to charge any price and decide which treatments to cover. (The new proposal eliminates the ACA's requirement that insurers provide ten "essential health benefits"). This will effectively end protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The Republicans claim that states will be free to choose whether they allow this, but because the the proposal will no longer require healthy people to buy insurance, most states will be forced to reinstate the practice in order to avoid unaffordable increases in insurance premiums for most of their residents. 

Kaiser Family Foundation conducted an analysis in 2016 of the percentage of people in each state who have excludable pre-existing conditions under the pre-ACA rules. I've taken that analysis and broken it down by which candidate won the presidential election in each state. As the table shows, the new rules will disproportionately effect Trump states. Of the 17 states with an above-average percentage of people with excludable conditions, 15 voted for Trump. 

Yesterday, Trump reportedly decided to keep NAFTA because his agriculture and commerce secretaries  brought him a map showing that its elimination would disproportionately hurt Trump country.  How I wish the President read this blog and also that I was better at making maps. 

By the way, GOP cuts and changes to ACA subsidies would also disproportionately hurt voters in Trump counties (mainly rural). 

Percent of Non-Elderly Population with Excludable Pre-existing Conditions under pre-ACA insurance Rules* by 2016 Presidential Winner
West Virginia	36%	Trump
Mississippi	34%	Trump
Kentucky	33%	Trump
Alabama	33%	Trump
Arkansas	32%	Trump
Tennessee	32%	Trump
Oklahoma	31%	Trump
Kansas	30%	Trump
Louisiana	30%	Trump
Missouri	30%	Trump
Indiana	30%	Trump
Georgia	29%	Trump
Delaware	29%		Clinton
Maine**	29%		Clinton
South Carolina	28%	Trump
Michigan	28%	Trump
Ohio	28%	Trump
United States	27%

*Gary Claxton, Cynthia Cox, Anthony Damico, Larry Levitt, and Karen Pollitz. 2016. “Pre-existing Conditions and Medical Underwriting in the Individual Insurance Market Prior to the ACA,” Kaiser Family Foundation Issue Brief, Dec 12. <http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/pre-existing-conditions-and-medical-underwriting-in-the-individual-insurance-market-prior-to-the-aca/>

**Clinton received 3 electoral votes in Maine and Trump received 1.