Tell Your Senator to Vote NO on Graham-Cassidy
Yet again, U.S. Senate leadership has put forth a seriously flawed plan to overhaul our nation’s health care system. The bill, known as Graham-Cassidy, stands to worsen access to affordable and quality health insurance for family farmers and ranchers.
A vote on the legislation is expected by Wednesday – please call, email, or tweet your U.S. Senators today!
What would Graham-Cassidy do?
- Eliminate the current system of tax credits and premium subsidies and end the Medicaid expansion, replacing both pieces with a block grant.
- Institute a per-capita cap on Medicaid.
- Allow states to waive protections for individuals with preexisting conditions, allowing insurance companies to charge them higher premiums.
- Allow states to waive essential health benefits requirements.
- Destabilize the individual marketplace by eliminating the individual mandate, tax credits and premium subsidies.
How can you make your voice heard?
- Send emails to your Senators asking them to oppose the bill.
- Call your Senators and tell them to vote NO on the legislation. You can reach your Senators’ Washington, D.C. offices by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
- Post on social media.
Commonly Used Hashtags
There are several hashtags being used by various organizations to promote continued access to health care including some of the following:
#ProtectPatientsNow
#PuttingPatientsFirst
#CoverageMatters
#ProtectOurCare
#ReformNotRepeal
#SaveMedicaid
Tag Your Member of Congress
No one has more influence over a Senator than someone who lives in their states. When posting about your opposition to the BRCA, please be sure to tag your Representatives and Senators. C-SPAN has compiled a list of Twitter handles for members of Congress.
Farmers Union Talking Points
NFU urges Congress to seek bipartisan reform that will increase farmers’, ranchers’ and rural Americans’ access to quality, affordable health insurance. This bill does not achieve that goal.
NFU acknowledges the problems within our current system, including rising premium costs, marketplace instability and a lack of funding for rural hospitals. Graham-Cassidy would leave states to fix these problems with less money.
After repeated calls for increased transparency and a bipartisan effort, Senate Republicans are once again using a secretive process to force a bill through without public input.
Block granting money to states almost always leads to funding cuts. 11 of the 13 health, human services, and housing programs that have been block granted have received funding cuts.
Graham-Cassidy cuts healthcare funding by $80 billion (1/3 of current funding) by 2026. No funding is guaranteed after 2026.
Farmers and ranchers benefited from the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits, subsidies for out-of-pocket costs and Medicaid expansion. Graham-Cassidy would make it all but impossible to maintain these provisions, much less make any improvements.
Graham-Cassidy allows states to waive protections for individuals with preexisting conditions, leaving many farmers and ranchers to face even higher premiums.
Two-thirds of farmers and ranchers report having a preexisting condition.
A per capita cap on Medicaid will disproportionately hurt rural hospitals, which are more reliant on Medicaid funding than their urban counterparts.
The bill would also institute an age tax, allowing insurance companies to charge older customers 5 times what they charge younger customers.