WASHINGTON BUREAU ∙ NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
TH
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E-MAIL: [email protected] ∙ WEB ADDRESS WWW.NAACP.ORG
ISSUE UPDATE / ACTION ALERT
DATE:
January 13, 2017
TO:
Concerned Parties
FROM:
Hilary O. Shelton, Director, NAACP Washington Bureau
FIRST STEPS TO REPEAL NAACP-SUPPORTED
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT PASS U.S. SENATE AND
HOUSE
LEGISLATION PASSES 51 – 48 IN THE SENATE AND 227 – 198 IN THE US
HOUSE WITH NO MEASURE TO REPLACE CRUCIAL LAW THAT HAS
ADDED OVER 20 MILLION AMERICANS TO THE HEALTH CARE ROLLS
THE ISSUE:
During the 2016 campaign, President-elect Trump, and some Members of Congress vowed to repeal the Affordable Care
Act (ACA) (a.k.a. Health Care Reform, a.k.a. Obamacare). In the wee hours of the evening of January 11, 2017 the U.S.
Senate voted, 51 – 48, to begin the process of overturning a law which has made high-quality health care and coverage
affordable and accessible for millions of Americans, and in doing so has saved and improved countless lives. The US House
later passed the same legislation, 227 – 198, on January 13, 2017, and thus the repeal process officially begins. Specifically,
the resolution which passed both the Senate and the House (and is not signed by the President) instructs the relevant
committees in both bodies to develop legislation formally repealing the ACA by January 27, 2017. The NAACP, which has
long fought for affordable, high-quality health care and coverage for all Americans, will now advocate strongly, that the
ACA not be repealed until a replacement plan is developed which offers affordable high quality health care coverage to all
Americans.
Under a general repeal of the ACA more than 20 million previously newly-insured individuals stand to lose their health
coverage. Furthermore, the 12 million Americans who are still uninsured and who are eligible for financial assistance to
help pay for coverage will now have no affordable options for getting that coverage. The current, historically low rates of
Americans without health coverage will spike back up if the ACA is repealed. Because of the ACA, only 15% of African
Americans currently do not have health care coverage; this is a dramatic improvement over the more than 70% of African
Americans who lacked adequate health care coverage in 2010. The uninsured rate for working Americans declined 32%
between 2013 and 2015. The uninsured rate for Latinos has declined 47% between 2010 and 2015. Furthermore, the
uninsured rate for non-elderly veterans declined 42% between 2013 and 2015.
In addition to a loss of coverage for millions of Americans, those with private insurance could be stripped of vital
protections if the 2010 law is completely repealed. Up to 129 million people with pre-existing conditions could once again
be denied affordable, comprehensive coverage that actually covers their health care needs. Millions of women can once
again be charged more for health coverage just for being women. Insurance companies would again be allowed to cap the
most they would pay for someone’s health care in a year as well as the most they would pay in someone’s lifetime,
effectively cutting off coverage for the sickest individuals when they most need it. Insurance plans routinely did not cover
core benefits, like maternity coverage, prescription drugs, and mental health care. Insurers will no longer be required to
provide equal coverage for mental health and substance use disorder care. Nearly 138 million people with private health
coverage, including nearly 29 million children and 55 million seniors on Medicare will lose guaranteed access to free
preventive care, like blood pressure screenings, immunizations, and cancer screenings.
We should be working together to improve and expand the benefits of the ACA so that all Americans, regardless of what
they look like who they are or where they live, have adequate and affordable health care and coverage. At the very least
Congress should not repeal the ACA until it develops another plan which guarantees affordable, adequate health care and
coverage for all Americans.
More…
THE ACTION WE NEED YOU TO TAKE:
Contact your Representative and both your Senators and URGE THEM TO OPPOSE A REPEAL OF
THE AFFORDABLE CARE AC. To contact your Senators and Representative, you may:
 Make a Phone Call:
Call your Senators and your Representative in Washington by dialing the Capitol
Switchboard and asking to be transferred to your Senators'/Congressman’s offices. The
switchboard phone number is (202) 224-3121 (see message section, below).
 Write a Letter
A SAMPLE
To write letters to your Senators, send them to:
The Honorable (name of Senator)
LETTER IS
U.S. Senate
ATTACHED
Washington, D.C. 20510
To write a letter to your Representative, send it to:
The Honorable (name of Representative)
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
 Send a Fax
If you would like to send a fax, call your Senators’ or Representative’s offices (through
the Capitol switchboard) and ask for their fax numbers (you can use either the attached
sample letter or the message box, below).
 Send an E-Mail
To send an e-mail to your Senators, go to www.senate.gov; click on “Find Your
Senators”. Look up your Senators by state; go to their web sites for e-mail addresses.
To send an e-mail to your Representative, go to www.house.gov, and click on “Find
Your Representative” (on the right hand side of the screen) and enter your zip code.
This should take you to a screen that identifies who your Representative is and how to
get in touch with him or her.
REMEMBER TO CONTACT BOTH YOUR SENATORS!!!!!
THE MESSAGE
 Under a general repeal of the Affordable Care Act, more than 20 million Americans
stand to lose their health coverage;
 A repeal of the Affordable Care Act will cause many Americans with private insurance
to lose protections they now enjoy, including a ban on not covering those with preexisting conditions. Up to 129 million people with pre-existing conditions could once
again be denied affordable, comprehensive coverage that actually covers their health
care needs;
 Millions of women can once again be charged more for health coverage just for being
women.
 We should be working together to improve and expand the ACA so that all
Americans, regardless of what they look like or where they live, have adequate and
affordable health care and coverage.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS IMPORTANT MATTER!!!
If you have any questions, call Hilary Shelton at the Washington Bureau at (202) 463-2940.
MEMBERSHIP IS POWER! JOIN THE NAACP TODAY.
To become an NAACP member or to sign up for e-mail legislative and press updates, visit www.naacp.org
(date)
The Honorable ___________________________
United States Senate / House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510 / 20515
Sample Letter
RE: SUPPORT FOR THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
Dear Senator / Representative _______________________________;
As your constituent, I am writing to let you know of my strong support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I hope that
you will work to repair and expand the law, so that millions of Americans can continue to benefit from the coverage and
benefits it offers.
If it is repealed and not replaced by a plan of equal magnitude, more than 20 million previously newly-insured
individuals stand to lose their health coverage. Furthermore, the 12 million Americans who are still uninsured and who
are eligible for financial assistance to help pay for coverage will now have no affordable options for getting that
coverage. The current, historically low rates of Americans without health coverage, will spike back up if the ACA is
repealed. Because of the ACA, only 15% of African Americans currently do not have health care coverage; this is a
dramatic improvement over the more than 70% of African Americans who lacked adequate health care coverage in
2010. The uninsured rate for working Americans declined 32% between 2013 and 2015. The uninsured rate for Latinos
has declined 47% between 2010 and 2015. Furthermore, the uninsured rate for non-elderly veterans declined 42%
between 2013 and 2015.
Prices will also potentially skyrocket for women because of their gender: prior to the ACA, women in this country were
paying $1 billion more each year in higher premiums. Insurance companies would again be allowed to cap the most
they would pay for someone’s health care in a year as well as the most they would pay in someone’s lifetime, effectively
cutting off coverage for the sickest individuals when they most need it. Insurance plans routinely did not cover core
benefits, like maternity coverage, prescription drugs, and mental health care. Insurers will no longer be required to
provide equal coverage for mental health and substance use disorder care as they do for other health conditions,
jeopardizing care for more than 55 million individuals with coverage that they purchase themselves or get from small
employers. Nearly 138 million people with private health coverage (including nearly 29 million children) and 55 million
seniors on Medicare will lose guaranteed access to free preventive care, like blood pressure screenings, immunizations,
and cancer screenings.
We should be working together to improve and expand the ACA so that all Americans, regardless of what they look like
who they are, or where they live, have high quality and affordable health care and coverage. Please contact me in the
near future to let me know what you are doing to address the problems of uneven care and inadequate coverage in
America, and what I can do to help eliminate these life-threatening crises.
Sincerely,
(sign and print your name and
remember to include your address)
Remember to contact your
Representative and BOTH
your Senators.
S. Con Res. 3: Final Passage of a resolution which instructs various committees of the House and Senate to report back
legislation which repeals the 2010 Affordable Care Act by January 27, 2017.
S.Con.Res. 3 passed the US Senate on January 12, 2017 (on the legislative day that began January 11, 2017) by a margin of
51 yeas to 48 nays.
THE NAACP OPPOSED THE RESOLUTION.
ALABAMA
IOWA
Shelby


Grassley


Sessions

Ernst

ALASKA
KANSAS
Sullivan


Moran


Murkowski, L.

Roberts

ARIZONA
KENTUCKY
McCain


McConnell


Flake

Paul

ARKANSAS
LOUISIANA
Boozman


Cassidy


Cotton

Kennedy

CALIFORNIA
MAINE

Feinstein
?
King (independent)


Harris

Collins

COLORADO
MARYLAND
Gardner


Van Hollen


Bennet

Cardin

CONNECTICUT
MASSACHUSETTS
Blumenthal


Warren


Murphy

Markey

DELAWARE
MICHIGAN
Coons


Peters


Carper

Stabenow

FLORIDA
MINNESOTA
Nelson


Klobuchar


Rubio

Franken

GEORGIA
MISSISSIPPI
Perdue


Cochran


Isakson

Wicker
HAWAII

Cornyn

UTAH
NEW JERSEY
Booker


Hatch


Menendez

Lee

VERMONT
NEW MEXICO
Udall, Tom


Leahy


Heinrich

Sanders (Independent)

VIRGINIA
NEW YORK
Schumer


Warner


Gillibrand

Kaine

WASHINGTON
NORTH CAROLINA
Burr


Murray


Tillis

Cantwell

WEST VIRGINIA
NORTH DAKOTA
Heitkamp


Manchin


Hoeven

Capito

WISCONSIN
OHIO
Portman


Baldwin


Brown

Johnson

WYOMING
OKLAHOMA
Inhofe


Enzi


Lankford

Barrasso

OREGON
Wyden


Merkley

PENNSYLVANIA

RHODE ISLAND


Schatz

McCaskill

MONTANA
Risch


Daines


Crapo

Tester

NEBRASKA
Durbin


Sasse


Duckworth

Fischer

Donnelly
Shaheen
Casey
Blunt
Young





INDIANA
Cruz


Hirono
ILLINOIS
Hassan


Toomey
MISSOURI
IDAHO
TEXAS
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Reed


Whitehouse

SOUTH CAROLINA
Graham


Scott

SOUTH DAKOTA
Rounds


Thune

NEVADA



Cortez Mastro
Heller



TENNESSEE
Alexander


Corker

VOTE KEY
 = Voted in support of the
NAACP position and in
opposition o the resolution
= Voted against the
NAACP position and in
support of the resolution
? = Did not vote