The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Thursday, March 23, 2017 to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to replace it with the American Health Care Act (AHCA). AHCA will lead to 14 million Americans losing their health care next year and another 10 million people will lose their health care coverage by 2026.
Rural communities in Oregon will be hardest hit by the proposed Affordable Care Act repeal. A larger share of residents in rural Oregon rely on subsidized health coverage for medical and dental care. Currently, 67 percent of current federal funding received by Oregon is from Medicaid. This equates to $11.2 billion in our current two-year state budget cycle, a sum larger than the size of Oregon’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries combined.
Representative Greg Walden (R) who represents most of rural Oregon is opposed to the Affordable Care Act.
Contact Representative Walden to let him know you want to save the ACA. Here’s how:
- Deliver postcards to Representative Walden’s district office in Medford by Thursday, March 23 at 9:00 a.m. 14 N. Central Ave., Suite 112, Medford, OR 97501
- Call Representative Walden’s Offices in Oregon and Washington, D.C.
Sample messages can be found here.
Bend: (541) 389-4408; Fax: (541) 389-4452
La Grande: (541) 624-2400
Medford: (541) 776-4646; Fax: (541) 779-0204
Washington, D.C.: (202) 225-6730; Fax: (202) 225-5774
- Send Representative Walden a Tweet: @repgregwalden
Sample Tweets
These sample Tweets can be used to raise awareness about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and what Oregonians will lose if the ACA is repealed.
Please use hashtags #Oregon4ACA and #SaveACA for your Tweets. You can post a Tweet or direct your Tweets to Rep. Greg Walden @repgregwalden, or Speaker Paul Ryan @SpeakerRyan. Some Tweets may need to be shortened to fit the 140-character limit if sent to either representative.
ACA and Children
98 percent of kids and 95 percent of all #Oregonians have health care coverage thanks to the #ACA
406,000 children in #Oregon rely on Medicaid and Healthy Kids (CHIP) for healthcare.
55 percent of children under 18 in Rep. Walden’s district are covered by Medicaid.
Because of #ACA kids with asthma, cancer, or disabilities can’t be excluded from coverage due to pre-existing condition.
Every child has a right to healthcare.
Universal access is not the same as universal coverage. #ACA #SaveACA
Without #ACA, millions of children and their families will lose access to affordable medical and dental care.
Thanks to #ACA, insurance companies can’t impose lifetime benefit limits for children who have special health care needs.
ACA and Oregon
Under the #ACA and #Medicaid expansion, Oregon’s uninsured rate dropped from 17 percent to 5 percent.
More than 155,000 #Oregonians have signed up for health insurance through the Marketplace as of Jan. 31, 2017.
More than 106,000 #Oregonians have qualified for tax credits that make health premiums more affordable.
Under #ACA, #Oregon extended Oregon Health Plan coverage to approximately 400,000 Oregonians who lacked health insurance
Today, OHP covers more than 1 in 4 Oregonians, including 4 in 10 residents in some rural parts of the state.
#ACA has allowed the state to expand coverage to low-income Oregonians into a higher quality system that contains costs.
The nonprofit Economic Policy Institute estimates #Oregon would lose a total of 42,000 jobs if the #ACA is repealed.
55 percent of children under 18, and 29 percent of all residents in Rep. Walden’s district are covered by Medicaid.
The #ACA cut the rate of uninsured people in Rep. Walden’s district by more than 50 percent.
Most of the Tweets come from these source documents:
http://www.95percentoregon.com/uploads/9/9/2/6/99265876/fact-sheet.pdf
http://ccf.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/OregonMedicaidCHIP.pdf
http://www.ocpp.org/2017/03/17/iss20170315-gop-health-plan-impact-oregon-walden/
Learn more about the Affordable Care Act and the impacts of replacing the landmark law with the American Health Care Act.
House GOP Plan Threatens Nearly One Million Oregonians Relying on the Oregon Health Plan
Medicaid Restructuring and Nonelderly Adults with Disabilities