Richmond, Va.—All across the state Virginians have been contacting their U.S. Senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, to ask that they stop the American Health Care Act (AHCA). At Virginia Organizing’s meetings and events across the commonwealth, leaders have been practicing their advocacy skills and then making calls.
“This disastrous bill, which a majority of the House of Representatives voted for on May 4, 2017, would strip 24 million Americans of health care according to the Congressional Budget Office,” said Ladelle McWhorter, chairperson of Virginia Organizing. “It would allow insurance companies to choose not to cover many essential medical services. It would end Medicaid as we know it by turning it into a block grant program, which would gradually starve it of funding. And what is the great benefit to our country of these massive cuts in health care? Each of the 400 wealthiest families in the U.S. will get a $7 million tax cut. That’s $7 million per family!”
Karen Parikh in Roanoke said, “Since Harvard Medical School in 2009 published figures stating that 45,000 Americans die each year from not having access to healthcare, I figured that one dead American is one American too many, don’t you think?”
Herbert Voss, a longtime leader in the Danville Chapter, said, “I have people in my family who moved to Danville for the low cost of living, but they can’t afford the high health care costs. Without insurance, they have to drive across the state for free hospital care. They can’t afford the travel costs and end up sicker and sicker.”
Patty May, a retired nurse and Henry County resident, got involved in Virginia Organizing out of her concern for the Affordable Care Act. “Health care should be a right, not a privilege! Ever since I worked in nursing, I have believed that health care must be a right because there are too many people who can’t afford it.”
Gwynn Hamilton, a farmer in Newport, told Senator Warner, “We grow fresh vegetables for the families of the New River Valley. We grow flowers that are featured in weddings at many regional destinations. We employ roughly five people a year. We do this because we receive affordable care. Our costs have been amazingly affordable.”
Alex Joyner on the Eastern Shore said, “Access to health care needs to be fixed, not scaled back. Too many people have benefited from the expansion of coverage in the Affordable Care Act.”
Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization that brings people together to create a more just Virginia.
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