More people will die

Congress passed the Affordable Care Act seven years ago to solve some real, honest-to-goodness problems.

48 million people in this country had no health insurance. 48 million people who went to bed each night knowing that one serious illness or one trip to the emergency room and their whole lives would be turned upside down.

With leaders like Senator Ted Kennedy, Congress worked hard, compromised, and ultimately came up with a solution that substantially improved the lives of millions of Americans. No, the Affordable Care Act isn't perfect -- we have more work to do to bring down the costs of health care. We need the same sort of improvements and adjustments we've been making in Massachusetts since we passed bipartisan health care reform back in 2006.

Improving the ACA doesn't mean we should repeal health care for millions of people and run away. And that's exactly what the GOP "Trumpcare" plan does: throw 24 million people off their health insurance by 2024. Fourteen million will lose their health care next year.

And then what?

Throwing people off their health insurance won't stop people from having heart attacks. It won't stop people from having strokes or discovering a cancerous lump. It won't stop people suffering from substance abuse or mental health problems. It won't stop people from falling down and breaking an ankle or banging their head in a car accident.

If the Republicans take away health insurance for 24 million people, there are only two roads ahead: 1) health centers and hospitals won't get paid for the treatments they give -- and they'll pass along the costs to everyone else, or 2) even more people in America are going to go bankrupt, lose their homes, their savings, and everything else they have built up. Oh, the Republican plan will give us one more road: more people will die without health care.

House Republicans are trying to hold a vote on their Trumpcare plan tomorrow -- the anniversary of the ACA being signed into law. So now's the time:

• Call your member of Congress and encourage them to vote NO on the Republicans' American Health Care Act. If they're already voting NO, thank them for their vote. To reach the Capitol Switchboard, call 202-224-3121 and ask for your representative's office. To look up your representative, click here.


• Ask your friends in states with a Republican senator or representative to call and tell them to vote NO on the American Health Care Act.


• Share your Affordable Care Act story on social media today -- or share the story of someone you know who needs their health care. The more we remind the Republicans that real people are going to be hurt by this plan, the better chance we have to stop them.

The Republicans' health care plan is simple: "I've got mine, the rest of you are on your own."

We are a better people than that. And if we fight back to stop this terrible Trumpcare bill, we will prove it.

Thanks for being a part of this.