UltraViolet Launches Video Featuring The Voices The GOP Doesn’t Want You To Hear Today As They Are About To Take Away Healthcare Coverage From Millions of Americans
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Thursday, March 23, 2017
CONTACT: Brett Abrams | brett@unbendablemedia.com | (516) 841-1105
The Voices The GOP Doesn’t Want You To Hear Today As They Are About To Take Away Healthcare Coverage From Millions of Americans
In New Video, Americans Discuss Why They Can’t Afford to Lose Their Health Insurance, Urge GOP Not to “Take Away My Health Care Coverage”
Ahead of an upcoming House of Representatives vote on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, UltraViolet, a national women’s advocacy group, is releasing a new video featuring patients who rely on the ACA’s health insurance to take care of themselves and their families. These families argue that repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with the Republican plan – The American Health Care Act – would be a disaster for their families, yanking away critically-needed health insurance coverage. The video features five people talking about how the Affordable Care Act benefited them and their families.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: https://youtu.be/urSu-QpWz0Y
Experts warn that the American Health Care Act may result in a loss of health insurance for millions of people and undermine protections for those with pre-existing conditions. Time gaps in insurance coverage would force many to pay large penalties over the next year, making quality coverage more difficult to attain. The legislation would also ban patients on Medicaid from using their insurance at Planned Parenthood, and disallow individuals from using tax credits to purchase health care plans that cover abortion.
MORE ABOUT THE PEOPLE FEATURED IN THE VIDEO HERE:
- Peyton Olson, 24, from Rogers, Arkansas. She’s been using the ACA for birth control since starting college.
- Mary Jo Deerwester, 67, from Columbus, Ohio, is a cancer patient. She relies on the Affordable Care Act to cover the drugs she needs to stay alive.
- Alex Aspiazu, 32, from Vienna, Virginia, has a chronic medical condition that is incompatible with working full time. The Affordable Care Act allowed her to buy health insurance on the exchange at an affordable cost so she could start her own part time business as a doula, and to look after her daughter..
- Theresa Bohannan and Briant Gibb, both 38, from Reno, Nevada, are parents to a toddler, Dean, with a congenital heart defect. The Affordable Care Act keeps her family from hitting coverage caps, guards against her son being denied coverage, and ensure they can afford the care they need. They have one final surgery on Dean’s heart and they are very worried about repeal will do to their coverage.
- Phillipe Thao, 21, Chicago, Illinois, uses the ACA to cover his HIV prevention medication, and mental health counselling.
Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet, issued the following statement explaining UltraViolet’s opposition to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and the proposed replacement plan, the American Health Care Act:
“For years, the Republican Party has been trying to bring women back to a time before reproductive health care access and affordable health care coverage, and the GOP’s health care proposal would do just that and more. The American Health Care Act would cost hundreds of thousands of women their lives – by eliminating guaranteed coverage of cervical or breast cancer screening tests, abolishing comprehensive maternity care and domestic violence screenings or denying women access to birth control and emergency contraception. For women and their families, the tried-and-true benefits provided by the Affordable Care Act are non-negotiable.
“The GOP healthcare plan is more than just an assault on women – it is the makings of a national healthcare crisis – one which kicks millions of people off health insurance plans. The American Health Care Act would make it impossible for states to continue Medicaid expansion and set the stage for deep cuts to medicaid funding for seniors, low-income families, and children. The plan would increase costs, make coverage less affordable, and undermine those with pre-existing conditions – all to give bonus tax cuts to the wealthiest American families.
“Repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with the Republican plan isn’t a solution, it’s an impending crisis for millions of Americans who can’t afford to lose their healthcare.”
Read more stories from UltraViolet members who rely on the Affordable Care Act for health insurance coverage. Each poster is available to talk to media about their stories: http://cantaffordtolose.com
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