SEIU Local 521 Chief Elected Officer Riko Mendez released the following statement today:
“On Sept. 26, Republican leaders in the Senate decided not to press forward with the latest version of a repeal bill of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) because they couldn’t get enough votes. Our calls, our emails, and our actions continue to make a difference. Thank you from the millions of Americans this would have harmed directly and from the millions more who would have had to watch as their loved ones and family members struggled with treatable illnesses and the immense cost of moving away from the primary care system and back to emergency room treatment.
“It is disheartening that a cruel and irresponsible bill like Graham-Cassidy could come so close to passage without even going through the proper meetings and without an opportunity for the Congressional Budget Office to offer an impartial estimate of costs. This is the government we have for now and this is why we must fight.
“Despite another failure by this administration to repeal ACA, the #fight4ourhealth is far from over. Congress and the Administration can sabotage our care in dozens of other ways. Millions of dollars in ACA subsidies are still at risk. We must continue to protect Medicare and stop efforts to cut or cap it in the federal budget. We must continue to fight any proposed legislation that sacrifices the health of working Americans to pay for tax giveaways.
“We won this day, but we must remain vigilant. Congress will continue to devise ways to cut our healthcare, making workers more desperate and the wealthiest businesses even richer. Day by day, vote after vote, and issue by issue, we can continue to win if we stay united. We are stronger when we rise together!”
“For years, I could not afford health insurance for myself until the Affordable Care Act made this possible. I am relieved that the repeal was defeated. Any repeal bill would have put the health of 1.5 million self-employed workers and small business owners at risk in California.”
Nancy Harvey, SEIU 521 Child Care Provider
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