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Thursday, July 13, 2017

One million Ohio stories: Keep the Care in the Affordable Care Act

As Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio considers repealing the Accountable Care Act, I hope he keeps two Ohioans in mind.   Natoma Canfield is a middle-aged cancer survivor, a cleaning lady from Medina, Ohio.  Starla Darling is a young mother working in northern Ohio.  She had induced her labor early, just before her employer went bankrupt.

Both these women rely on a strong safety net.  

About one million Ohioans would lose health coverage under the bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, which is substantially similar to the Senate bill now in process.  About 700,000 would lose Medicaid and an estimated 293,000 would lose their coverage through the private health-care exchanges, the office of Ohio’s Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown said.  Republican Senate Rob Portman indicated in May that he doesn’t support the House bill because it doesn’t do enough to protect Ohio’s Medicaid expansion population, especially those being treated for opioid abuse.  The Senate bill is now being prettied up with lipstick to attract fence-sitting Republican senators.  

Advice: Share this with your friends in Ohio, urging them to call Sen. Portman’s office at 202-224-3353  with these stories and yours, to ensure he stands firm.  Also, you can enter your story on his website.

Thanks for the source article by Jessica Wehrman in the Columbus Dispatch of May 25, 2017, which quantified the harm to Ohioans.

Friday, July 7, 2017

Arizonans’ stories and the Affordable Care Act

Arizona has been dangerously hot lately.  Speaking of hot air dangerously out of control, the Affordable Care Act is in the middle of a firestorm.

These Arizonans all depend on the Affordable Care Act in some way:

Phoenix residents Bryan and Jenny Masche were blessed with sextuplets.  They’ll need to be able to rely on Medicaid.  

Jeff Jeans, a small businessman in Sedona, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his vocal cords, and now says the ACA saved his life. 

The El Rio Community Health Center in Tucson serves Medicare patients with diabetes like Maria, and many Medicaid patients.  Deep cuts in the Affordable Care Act could greatly reduce the capabilities of Federally Qualified Health Centers like El Rio.

In Wickenburg, Dirk Almstedt and several members of his family struggle with chronic Lyme disease.  Their burdensome care has made him cut way back on his work hours, so they need to be sure Medicaid will be there to cover them. 

Advice:  Ask your Arizonan friends to call Sen. John McCain at (202) 224-2235 and Sen. Jeff Flake at 202-224-4521 to protect the ACA.