House leadership’s decision to pull the American Health Care Act off the floor, ending (for now) congressional efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, is a major victory.
Just a few months ago, it seemed certain that millions of people would lose access to affordable health care. Yesterday, that plan fell apart.
What happened? You did. You and hundreds of thousands of other people who called, emailed, lobbied, and organized are the major reason this bill isn’t moving forward.
Days before the expected vote, 400 young adults stormed Capitol Hill, carrying a strong message to Congress to protect Medicaid and oppose the AHCA. They came from 37 states to tell their stories in lobby visits with 165 congressional offices during FCNL’s Spring Lobby Weekend. Their advocacy helped propel opposition to this health care bill - as did their energy, as you can see in these photos from the event.
What comes next? We need to keep speaking up for access to health care. The Trump administration is likely to work to undermine the Affordable Care Act from the inside. The Affordable Care Act needs to be strengthened and improved to make quality health care affordable to everyone in the country.
But we also need to remember that our voices matter - even when the odds seem stacked against us. As FCNL’s domestic policy lobbyist Amelia Kegan said yesterday, “For everyone who has gotten discouraged and feels like their voice doesn’t matter in Congress, the defeat of the American Health Care Act proves otherwise.”
