Time to act on health bill

“AHCA could cost Pennsylvania 85,000 jobs by 2026,” states a recent CDT front page headline. If this health care bill passes, it will cause a significant problem for our state, but that is not the most serious concern for those who believe all of our citizens should have access and the ability to obtain quality, affordable health care.

According to nonpartisan government sources, the American Health Care Act would result in tens of millions of Americans losing health care benefits they now have under the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). Anxious to keep their promise to repeal and replace the ACA, a group of Republican senators is secretly working on their own version of the AHCA proposed by the House of Representatives. Even many Republican colleagues haven’t been told what it contains and won’t have a chance to review it carefully before being pressured to vote on it before their July 4 recess.

If you agree that adequate health care is critically important and that adding rather than losing good jobs is, too, now is the time to act. Contact your senators immediately. Tell Sen. Pat Toomey to vote no on this terrible bill. Thank Sen. Bob Casey for committing to vote against it. Ask both to take time to find a better solution that will build on and improve what Obamacare has provided. Call, write and spread the word. Time is running out and your health and the health of those you care about may depend on it.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 7:18 PM with the headline "Time to act on health bill."