clinical social work association

You have no doubt heard about the competing bills to revise or repeal the Affordable Care Act. One is the Alexander-Murray bill be reviewed in the Senate HELP Committee which seeks to tweak the ACA but maintain the parts that allow those who have been able to gain insurance to keep it.  The other is the Graham-Cassidy bill which will essentially replace the ACA in the way that many previously proposed Republican-driven bills would have with a bill that would cause millions of ACA-covered citizens to lose care.

I know we are all struggling with health care ‘fatigue’ but we need to make one more effort to stop the bill that would severely impact access to health care.

The basic thrust of Graham-Cassidy is to turn everything over to the states for funding health care through block grants, would remove essential benefits.  It is similar to the "skinny" version of House American Health Care Act which would likely result in about 22 million people losing insurance as the other Republican bills would have.

Please go to https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/ and send the following message to your senators.

"I am a licensed clinical social worker and a member of the Clinical Social Work Association [and/or your Society].  I have serious concerns about the way that my patients will be affected by the Graham-Cassidy bill that will repeal the Affordable Care Act.  The elimination of the essential health benefits, which include mental health and substance use treatment, will surely severely limit access to care for these life-threatening conditions to millions of Americans. The opioid crisis we face requires more, not less, funding. Before the Affordable Care Act went into effect, many desperate individuals and families went bankrupt trying to pay for the costs associated with chronic emotional disorders.   No matter what you may have heard, the costs associated with these conditions have been LOWERED over the past six years; the proposed changes to Medicaid and the elimination of universal inclusion of mental health treatment as a benefit, will be devastating to millions of Americans.  If we do not care for the most vulnerable among us, we have lost that compass. The bill being considered by the HELP Committee will be much more reasonable.  Please vote for the Alexander-Murray bill, not the Graham-Cassidy bill."

As always let me know when your messages have been sent.