Media Advisory - September 22, 2017
For Immediate Release
Salt Lake City | On Monday, September 25th, local advocates will protest the Senate's "zombie" Graham-Cassidy healthcare plan, since congressional efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act just won't die.
What:
Kill The Zombie Bill: Stop TrumpCare Rally
When:
Monday, September 25, 2017
Time:
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Where
: Wallace Bennett Federal Building (125 South State)
Speakers will include:
Psarah Johnson, Utah Women Unite and Stacy Stanford, Utah Health Policy Project; there will also be an open-mic period
The Graham-Cassidy bill, which Utah’s Sen. Orrin Hatch strongly supports, would create chaos in Utah’s insurance market by cutting vital funding, undoing popular patient protections, and rationing care for the most vulnerable among us. As the clock runs out at midnight on September 30th for the Senate to use special rules to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with just 50 votes, Republican leaders have re-animated the worst aspects of all previous bills into one final legislative monstrosity. Not only does the Graham-Cassidy bill dramatically reduce funding for Medicaid (a $1 billion cut for Utah by 2026 according to the Kaiser Family Foundation), but it would allow insurers to cut health benefits like maternity care, restrict prescription drugs, and charge sky-high premiums for people with pre-existing health conditions. Through capped block grants, states would be asked to cover the same amount of people with billions less in funding.
What's even scarier is that funding for these block grants end in 2026--meaning that 32 million Americans would be kicked of their coverage if Congress doesn't act to reauthorize the bill.
In fact, the Graham-Cassidy plan would be more devastating than a straight repeal of the ACA without a replacement due to its drastic cuts to Medicaid in Utah and every other state. The funding cuts and threats to consumer protections in this bill would create an eviscerated, patchwork, zombie-like healthcare system that is a mere shadow of the current law that has reduced Utah’s uninsured rate by 42% since 2010 and moved 100,000 Utahns from being uninsured to having coverage.
To protest this zombified plan, activists from a variety of nonprofits and grassroots organizations are gathering at the federal building for a "Kill the Zombie Bill: Stop TrumpCare" rally. Some participants will dress as zombies, with tombstone-style signs outlining the undead qualities of the Graham-Cassidy legislation.
Media Contact:
Stacy Stanford
Health Policy Associate,
Utah Health Policy Project
Cell: (801) 718-6130
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