Write You Congress Critter: Oppose the AHCA

This is the letter I sent to my congressman, Jason Lewis, this evening.  All are encouraged to use it as a template for letters of their own.

Imagine my surprise when I read this evening that Paul Ryan is planning to move forward with a vote on the Republican replacement for the ACA tomorrow, May 4.  This, despite the fact that the current version of the bill has not been released to the public nor scored by the CBO.

I wonder what Jason Lewis, the radio personality, would have said if Democrats had passed the ACA under similar circumstances.  As you are no doubt aware, President Obama made a concerted effort to get Republican input into the ACA, allowing working groups in the House and Senate to debate for four months --- before it finally became clear that Republicans were negotiating in bad faith to delay the bill's passage.  And despite that, Republicans insist on spreading the falsehood that the ACA was somehow 'rammed through' Congress.

What would talk show host Jason Lewis have said if Democrats had voted on the bill WITHOUT releasing it to the public and WITHOUT waiting for the CBO to score it.  I imagine he would have spent considerable time attacking the Democrats for lacking transparency and for trying to ram a bad bill into law --- and he would have been right to do so.

So I wonder why it is that congressman Jason Lewis is planning to vote for this bill?

Setting aside legislative hijinks, what IS known about the bill is that it is a very bad bill.  Unless something has changed significantly --- and there's no reason to believe that it has --- it will still deprive 26 million Americans of health care, just like the bill which failed in March.  It will still slash $370 billion from Medicaid.  It will still lead to an estimated 17,000 deaths per year.

And now as a bonus, we've learned that in order to draw more support from Tea Party Republicans, it will also allow states to apply for a waiver of the 'pre-existing conditions' regulations of the ACA, a provision which has the support of 52% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans.  This despite the fact that President Trump promised just 3 days ago that those with pre-existing conditions would continue to be protected under the new law.

Of course, it's no fun kicking away grandma's cane if you can't top it off with a large helping of hypocrisy, served in the form of a provision that members of Congress will continue to enjoy all of the ACA's benefits.

Come on, congressman.  If you have any concern whatsoever about the well-being of your constituents, you cannot support this bill.  And if you do vote 'Yea' on it, please don't come back to our district and try to tell us with a straight face that you did it in the best interest of your constituents.  There is no reason for anyone to support this bill, unless they want to demonstrate their fealty to a president with a 42% approval rating --- or shovel obscene tax cuts up to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the most vulnerable.


In fact, if you do vote 'Yea' on this bill, don't bother coming back to the district at all.  I know I plan to do everything I can that you don't have your job for long.