What's next at the national level with health care reform?

Stop sabotage of the ACA!

Unfortunately, we knew the failure of repeal wouldn't be the only threat to health care this year. The Trump Administration has taken several actions in the last 2 weeks to directly undermine the Affordable Care Act. We need you to call Congress and tell them to stop this sabotage and support the bipartisan stabilization process in the Senate.

Here are the sabotage efforts that have happened recently:

• Contraception Coverage Rollback: The Dept. of Health and Human Services released new rules allowing virtually any employer to claim a religious or "moral" exemption and stop providing contraceptive coverage in their insurance plans.
• Executive Order: The Trump Administration signed an Executive Order to expand and exempt "association health plans" from meeting basic ACA consumer protections like essential health benefits requirements.The Executive Order also called for short-term, "limited liability" insurance plans (sometimes called mini-med plans) to be offered on a year round basis instead of only 90 days at a time.
  
  This order:
  • Promotes bottom-of-the-barrel insurance plans that leave consumers open to huge financial risks and plans that could deny basic coverage for health services like mental health, maternity care or other services.
  • Could destabilize the individual and small employer insurance markets, as younger and healthier individuals and companies opt for these low-quality, junk insurance plans, leaving the fully-insured market facing increasing premiums from an older, sicker risk pool.
    • This Executive Order has to go through the regulatory and public comment process that will take some time and present an opportunity for advocates to weigh in.

You can read our statement on the executive order here

• Stopping Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments: The Trump Administration decided to stop what are called "cost-sharing reduction" payments to insurance companies last Thursday night.Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies are required to provide low to moderate income consumers cost-sharing reductions that lower their out-of-pocket costs like copays and deductibles in marketplace plans to make it more affordable to use health care services. The Administration stopped the payments that reimburse insurance companies for providing this additional assistance.
  
  This decision:
  • Causes insurance companies to raise their premiums to make up for the lack of reimbursement payments.
  • Helps no one and hurts thousands of Coloradans by raising their premiums.
  • Harms Colorado families that don't qualify for tax credits and purchase insurance on the individual market.
  • Destabilizes the insurance market and severely undermines affordability days before open enrollment starts.
  • Increases costs to taxpayers by nearly $200 billion over the next 10 years because the government will end up paying more in premium tax credits to offset the increases in premiums.
    
    You can read our statement on this decision here.

Congress can stop this sabotage by supporting efforts to restore the funding through the bipartisan stabilization effort being led by Senators Murray and Alexander.

Call our Senators to tell them to stop the sabotage and support the bipartisan stabilization effort!

Call your Senators:

Senator Gardner -  Denver: (303) 391-5777 DC: (202) 224-5941
Senator Bennet - Denver: (303) 455-7600 DC: (202) 224- 5852

Call your Representative too:

Representative Coffman - Aurora (720) 748-7514, DC: (202) 225-7882
Representative Tipton - Durango: (970) 259-1490, DC: (202) 225-4761
Representative Buck - Greeley: (970) 702-2136, DC: (202) 225-4676
Representative Lamborn - CO Springs: (719) 520-0055, DC: (202) 225-4422
Representative Polis: Boulder - (303) 484-9596, DC: (202) 225-2161
Representative Perlmutter - Lakewood: (303)274-7944 DC: (202) 225-2645
Representative DeGette - Denver: (303) 844-4988, DC: (202) 225-4431

Social Media:

• @SenCoryGardner If you really care about increasing premiums #StopTheSabotage  #ProtectOurCare
• @SenCoryGardner Support the bipartisan stabilization plan from Sen. Murray & Alexander and #StopTheSabotage
• @SenCoryGardner Higher premiums Coloradans pay from stopping CSR payments are on you. You chose not to fund them #StopTheSabotage
• #StopTheSabotage @SenCoryGardner and pass a bill to fund CSR payments and stabilize individual market. #ProtectOurCare
• @SenBennetCO Please continue to advocate for a bipartisan bill to stabilize insurance market to #StopTheSabotage

Source: Protect our Care Coalition