This week has been a whirlwind of health care news. I hope this post helps you make sense of what is happening and how you can help protect health care.

Part I – Where we celebrate

On Monday night, July 17, two more majority party legislators announced they would not support the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). With four of the 52 Republican senators and all 48 Democrat senators opposed, the Senate does not have enough votes to pass the bill. As many people know, the BCRA would have devastated access to health care, which is why so many people contacted Senators to tell them to oppose it.

Stopping the BCRA is a huge victory. This week, we proved once again that when lots of real people raise their voices, we can make a difference. 

Yes, there will be more work to do – see below. But we sustain our movement by celebrating our successes along the way. So, before you read any farther, please take a moment to celebrate!

Part II: Where we remain vigilant

As soon as it became clear that the BCRA could not pass, Senator McConnell announced that he would call for a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act without immediately replacing it – a move that would have led to 32 million Americans losing their insurance. Three majority party senators have announced they will not support this proposal, enough to stop it from proceeding.

Nevertheless, Senator McConnell has announced he will hold a vote on repeal-without-replacing as soon as the week of July 24. He is working to convince Senators to support this vote. Meanwhile, President Trump is meeting with Senators hoping to revive some version of the BCRA.

As long as some elected leaders remain committed to rolling back the protections in the Affordable Care Act or capping and cutting Medicaid funding, we must remain vigilant and active. You can help now by telling your Senators that you are still paying attention and still don’t want them to cut access to health care. Click here to take action.

Part III: Where we call on our leaders to lead

Like most Americans, we have been disheartened to see health care become a partisan political issue. Health care affects every one of us, and we believe we all have a lot more in common on this issue – across lines of party, geography, and economics – than the pundits might lead us to believe. Most of us recognize that our system needs improvements, and most of us want good health care for ourselves and for our neighbors.

This week, a partisan bill to unravel our health care system collapsed. Now it is time for our elected officials to work together to make our system better for everyone. We are inspired that there are elected officials in both parties calling for bipartisan cooperation on real system improvement. In the months to come, we’ll continue calling on our leaders to work for better care for everyone, and we’ll let you know how you can help.

Our voices have made a difference. Thank you for lending yours.