[A list of who voted yes/no and resources to contact your reps is at the bottom of this post]

The Trump/Ryan “Get Sick and Die!” plan passed the House today. Assuming you were opposed, the first thing you should do is call your Senators and give a strong message about your lack of support for this bill in the Senate. This is NOT a partisan issue — it is a health care issue. Plenty of people who voted Republican in the last election will lose their health care if this passes. Analysis has shown that it is likely to be a majority of GOP voters who lose coverage. Health care is not a place to play politics, and we need to let our legislators know loud and clear.

A few quick talking points when you make phone calls, this bill will, among other things:
– take insurance away from 24+ MILLION Americans
– allow states to determine that literally ANYTHING is a pre-existing condition, and either discontinue coverage or make it prohibitively expensive — so cancer, Alzheimer’s, childhood illnesses, and even rape treatments may not be covered
– effectively kill Medicaid by taking money away from states
– increase health care costs for all of us in the long run (and for many of us starting immediately) by not mandating that everyone is covered. Thus healthy, young people will have zero incentives to get health care, and costs will rise for everyone else
– this bill may save the government about $300B, BUT it will also increase insurance costs for those who can still afford insurance
– the real monetary bottom line is that this bill is a giant payout to the rich, removing taxes from the ACA to the tune of $600-800 BILLION dollars. All while kicking 24+ million people off of insurance, and while costs go up for the rest of us.

PLAIN AND SIMPLE: It is a give away to the rich at the cost of our health care.

What can you do now? Get angry and stay that way. It’s very likely that many members of the House who voted “yes” today don’t expect this to pass — and they need to know that the American people will punish that behavior at the ballot box. This was grandstanding for their base supporters, who don’t actually want their health care taken away, they just don’t want health care named after Obama. It was a stupid campaign promise, and now those who voted yes need to pay for it with their jobs.

2018 is just around the corner, and we need to keep constant pressure on our elected representatives and ourselves. We need to make their lives VERY uncomfortable and unhappy, on the way to giving them the opportunity to find new work and/or spend more time with their families.

Those who voted “yes” are in the NYT article linked below. What should you do?
1. Keep making calls to your Reps and Senators — and try ALL of their offices, both in DC and in their home district.
2. Donate to their opponents in the 2018 elections
3. Volunteer and work for their opponents in the 2018 elections
4. If you are in the area, or want to take a ride, attend their town hall meetings and let them know what you think of their votes, words and actions.
5. If you are a constituent, stop in to their local office and let them know what you think of their votes, words and actions.

Also, this could be a great opportunity to reestablish friendships with those who you are unhappy with because of how they voted the last time around. I’ve always thought this is a bit silly, but have many friends who have long-term issues with friends and family. This should be a rallying point — NO ONE EXCEPT THE UBER RICH has a reason to like this bill!! Make common ground with Republicans here, and let them know that you care about THEIR health care. Hey, it might even work…

Resources you can use:

Please get active. Stay active. And get MANY more people out to vote next time, not only in your district, but in EVERY district in which you can spend time or money to help out!

And please add comments, either here, of FB or both, if you have other ideas on how to move forward!

btw, if you’re on the other side, feel free to take this advice too.