Trumpcare’s back. Tell a friend. Congress, encouraged by the Trump Administration, is bringing back Trumpcare this week. To recap: the first version of Trumpcare would cause 24 million Americans to lose their health insurance and would increase premiums by up to 20 percent. But that wasn’t bad enough. After the first failed attempt to pass the law, Congressional Republicans decided to make Trumpcare even worse by allowing states to strip protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
More than 130 Americans have a pre-existing condition and under the most recent version of Trumpcare, states could allow insurers to raise their premiums so much coverage becomes unaffordable if they have a gap in coverage. Don’t buy it? Under the newest version of Trumpcare, if you have an uncomplicated pregnancy, an insurer could charge you $17,060 more; if you have lung cancer, you could be charged $70,000 more. This latest version of the bill is so bad that Congressional Republicans are trying to exempt themselves from the worst parts—keeping Obamacare-era protections for themselves, but stripping them from everyone else.
That’s why we were on the hill this morning to by deliver thousands of messages in pill bottles to members of congress who are undecided on this bill. The stories were submitted by people from across the country who depend on the Affordable Care Act. Check out all our office stops here and watch the video of our deliveries here.
ACTION OF THE DAY
Here’s what you can do to #ResistTrumpcare. We just delivered thousands of stories to the members of Congress who need to hear from you the most. And the resistance is working! This morning, Rep. Meehan (R-PA) came out against Trumpcare. Now we need your help to make sure our message is heard. First, share the messages in pill bottles to make sure their stories are heard. Then, go to TrumpcareToolkit.org for all the tools you need to contact the Representatives who are making up their mind about this bill.
WHAT’S TRENDING
Taxes. Trump release his tax plan yesterday and everyone was quick to point out that the plan, though light on details, looked like a pretty massive giveaway to the wealthy few—especially for child care. Even Trump’s own Treasury Secretary, Goldman Sachs alum Steven Mnuchin, can’t guarantee that the middle class won’t pay more under Trump’s tax plan. So much for populism.
Shutting it down. Unless Congress acts, the government runs out of funds late Friday night. While Trump has been tweeting away, Congress is scrambling to strike a deal to keep the government open. Trump seems to have shelved funding for the border wall for now, but is pushing a vote on Trumpcare before his 100th day, which could threaten a compromise in Congress. Read more here.
Gutting essential health care. Protections for pre-existing conditions aren’t the only thing being slashed in the latest version of Trumpcare. In an effort to cater to the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, the new version of Trumpcare would allow states to opt out of the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits requirements, aka the rule that requires insurance companies to cover care that millions of Americans need, like maternity care and emergency services. One of those essential health benefit is covering mental health care. Molly Cain’s story shows just how crucial mental health care is.
We’re staying in Paris? TBD, really. We’re hoping to find out more about the Trump administration’s future plans for the Paris Agreement after today’s meeting of senior Trump advisers on the matter. They’re supposed to come up with a recommendation for the President on how to move forward. So far, sticking with the ~200 other countries in the landmark climate agreement has been a topic of serious disagreement within the administration (think: Tillerson/Kushner v. Bannon/Pruitt), but here’s to hoping that *cooler* minds (and temperatures) prevail.
UNDER THE RADAR
NRA. They don’t typically fly under-the-radar, but not much attention has been paid to their convention happening in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend. The NRA spent $30 million to elect Trump, so it should come as no surprise that he is speaking at their convention tomorrow. Two facts you likely won’t hear in his speech? Ninety Americans are killed with guns every day. And in Georgia, someone is killed with a gun every seven hours. Want to resist the NRA-Trump agenda? Go to this rally at Woodruff Park in Atlanta tomorrow. Not in the area? Follow along with #DisarmHate on twitter.
GOOD NEWS
#ActOnClimate. Companies are doing it. Even if the Trump Administration isn’t.