{"id":17880,"date":"2017-10-23T14:41:34","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T18:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/?p=17880"},"modified":"2017-10-23T15:14:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T19:14:33","slug":"healthcare-moving-3-actions-take-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/healthcare-moving-3-actions-take-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthcare is Moving Again! 3 Actions To Take Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a name=\"top\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: right;\">Updated October 23, 2017<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/affordable-care-act-aca-still-threat-senate-immediate-action-needed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Link to recent healthcare update.<\/a><\/h5>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Page Contents <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<h5>(click on a title to go to that section)<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#action\">Take Action<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#happening\">What&#8217;s Happening?<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#contact\">Contact your Senators<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#spiritual\">Our UU Spiritual Grounding<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"#resources\">Background, Resources and Relevant News Media Coverage Links<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"action\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>Healthcare is Moving Again!<br \/>\n3 Actions To Take Now:<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\">We believe our nation\u2019s leaders have a moral obligation to work in a bipartisan and transparent manner to develop a national healthcare system that is affordable, accessible to everyone, and promotes quality. We have a new opportunity to urge our Senators to vote FOR a bipartisan healthcare bill.<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><b>1 &#8211; <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask your Senators to support the Senators\u2019 Alexander-Murray bipartisan legislation on healthcare; <\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n<h4><strong>2 &#8211; <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask your friends and family members to contact their Senators now. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Send them the link to this page \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/TakeActionHealthcare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/TakeActionHealthcare<\/a>; \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4><b>3 &#8211;\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spread the word &#8211; <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Post messages to social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and link to this page \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/TakeActionHealthcare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/bit.ly\/TakeActionHealthcare<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"happening\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><b>What&#8217;s Happening<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, President Trump signed an Executive Order that continues to undermine the Affordable Care Act and would throw health insurance markets into chaos.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA) have been working together to move in a better direction. They released a good-faith bill \u201cThe Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Act 2017\u201d that would counter many of the President\u2019s attacks on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Major provisions of the legislation would:<\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shore up and stabilize the insurance markets by ensuring funding of the Cost-Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments through 2019.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">provide funding for ACA enrollment advertising and outreach directed at states through 2019;<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">provide more flexibility to states by streamlining the waiver process.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more details about the legislation and political context, read this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2017\/10\/18\/16495240\/bipartisan-obamacare-stabilization-deal-alexander-murray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">article by VOX<\/a> about the Alexander-Murray deal.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s possible that the bill would be wrapped into a December deal to fund the government and lift the debt ceiling since standalone action on health care seems difficult and including it in a \u201cmust-pass vehicle could force the issue.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"contact\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><b>Contact your Senators<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please call your Senators and ask them to support this crucial good-faith bipartisan legislation to ensure that millions of Americans can still have access to affordable and quality healthcare.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s a list of cosponsors (as of October 19):<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><b>Republican Senators:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), and <\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><b>Democratic Senators:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Angus King (I-Maine), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.).<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Suggested message by phone or email:<\/b><\/h3>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(If your Senator is already a co-sponsor, thank them for supporting this important bipartisan effort.)<\/span><\/h4>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hi, my name is [ your name ] I&#8217;m a constituent from [ city, state ].<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please tell Senator [name] to support the bipartisan legislation by Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray to stabilize the insurance markets. [optional: As a Unitarian Universalist\/or person of faith I believe that healthcare is a moral issue]. This legislation is a step in the right direction. I support this legislation because it will:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ensure Cost-Sharing Reduction payments to insurers for the next two years, which will keep the health insurance markets more stable and premiums lower; <\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">improves the Affordable Care Act by restoring outreach and enrollment funding; and<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gives states more flexibility. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This bipartisan legislation is more important now than ever before because of the President&#8217;s recent executive orders on healthcare. What is the Senator\u2019s position on the legislation?<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank you. <\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cspan\/lists\/senators\/members?lang=en\"><b>Tweet your senators<\/b><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">AND use the hashtags #savemyhealthcare, #healthcare, #ProtectOurCare, #KeepAmericaCovered, and\/or #CoverageMatters.<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><b>Virginia:<\/b><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sen. Mark Warner (202) 224-2023<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sen. Tim Kaine (202) 224-4024<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><b>Maryland:<\/b><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sen. Ben Cardin (202) 224-4524<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sen. Chris Van Hollen (202) 224-4654<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><b>U.S. Capitol Switchboard:<\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(202) 224-3121 or use <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">our partner, NETWORK\u2019s, <\/span><b>toll free hotline to the Senate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which they provide for a previous action (ignore the message) 1-888-738-3058<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To find <\/span><b>Congressional e-mail addresses <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or other information<\/span><b>,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> visit these Congressional websites: <\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The U.S. <\/span><b>House of Representatives<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.house.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.house.gov<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The U.S. <\/span><b>Senate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.senate.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">http:\/\/www.senate.gov\/<\/span><\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"spiritual\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><b>Our UU Spiritual Grounding<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UUs are committed to promote policies that address the inequities in our economic mainstream and assure that all individuals have access to affordable, high-quality health care. <\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><b>Based on our Religious Principles, we:<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">believe in a national health care system that provides quality care, accessible and affordable to all;<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">oppose attempts to reduce the access or quality of Medicaid given its significant role as the primary health care option for our country\u2019s most vulnerable populations;<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">oppose attempts to jeopardize the healthcare infrastructure now in place under ACA;<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">urge protection of mandatory essential benefits. A specific concern is women\u2019s reproductive health coverage and access to healthcare as provided for in the ACA;<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">insist on a democratic process that is open and transparent when legislating healthcare.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"resources\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><b>Background, Resources and Relevant News Media Coverage Links<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.murray.senate.gov\/public\/index.cfm\/mobile\/newsreleases?ID=6A60F63E-C1C4-4D7E-A57B-325AA0FA641E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Video<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \u201cSenator Patty Murray announces the bipartisan deal to protect families from rising health care costs.\u201d October 17, 2017<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2017\/10\/18\/16495240\/bipartisan-obamacare-stabilization-deal-alexander-murray\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">VOX<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about the Alexander-Murray deal. \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new bipartisan deal to stabilize Obamacare, explained. The plan\u2019s biggest barrier? President Trump.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Updated by <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/authors\/dylan-scott\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dylan Scott<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0(<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/dylanlscott\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@dylanlscott<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"mailto:dylan.scott@vox.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dylan.scott@vox.com<\/a>) October 18, 2017<\/span><\/i><\/h4>\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2017\/10\/22\/us\/politics\/mitch-mcconnell-trump-bipartisan-health-proposal.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=Homepage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New York Times<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u201cMcConnell Signals Willingness to Hold Vote on Health Deal if Trump Approves,\u201d By Nicholas Fandos October 22, 2017<\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Senators\u2019 Alexander-Murray <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.help.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/THE%20BIPARTISAN%20HEALTH%20CARE%20STABILIZATION%20ACT%20OF%202017-%20SECTION%20BY%20SECTION.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe Bipartisan Health Care Stabilization Act of 2017\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> bill section-by-section summary. <\/span><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you have any questions, contact us at <\/span><a href=\"mailto:advocacy@uusj.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">advocacy@uusj.org<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and in the subject line put \u201cHealthcare.\u201d Or call Elizabeth at (202) 600-9132.<\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"#top\">Go to the Top<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Updated October 23, 2017 Link to recent healthcare update. Page Contents (click on a title to go to that section) Take Action What&#8217;s Happening? Contact your Senators Our UU Spiritual Grounding Background, Resources and Relevant News Media Coverage Links Healthcare is Moving Again! 3 Actions To Take Now: We believe our nation\u2019s leaders have a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/healthcare-moving-3-actions-take-now\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Healthcare is Moving Again! 3 Actions To Take Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,11,1,17,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-health","category-uncategorized","category-unitarian-universalism","category-uusj-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17880"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17901,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17880\/revisions\/17901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}