Senators Join Advocates, Parents and Kids Dressed as Superheroes in Speak Out at the US Capitol to “Save Our Health Care”

Parents, Health Care Advocates, Patients Share Stories On the Importance of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid. Kids in Superhero Costumes Deliver Stories to Members of Congress Urging Them to “Be A Superhero for American Families” and “Save Our Health Care”

WASHINGTON, DC- On Wednesday, June 21st, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senator Al Franken (D-MN), Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) will join with a coalition of progressive organizations, health care advocates, and parents and kids dressed in superhero costumes, for a speak out on Capitol Hill opposing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and its replacement with the secretive Republican plan.  Experts warn that the Republican health care bill would decimate Medicaid – a program that covers nearly half of the births in the United States, ten million people with disabilities, and 70 percent of nursing home residents – in addition to kicking nearly 23 million Americans off of their health insurance.

The action calls on Congress to “save our health care” and will feature speakers from across the country telling personal stories about how the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid, have helped their families.  Storytellers will discuss the impact that repeal would have on their everyday lives.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 21st. 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET

WHERE: East Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building, by the Senate steps. Washington, DC.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE: 

• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY);
• Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI);
• Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR);
• Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI);
• Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT);
• Senator Al Franken (D-MN);
• Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH);
• Monifa Bandele, Vice President, MomsRising
• Shaunna Thomas, Co-Founder, UltraViolet
• Dr. Lee Savio Beers, pediatrician at Children’s National Health System and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics;
• Theresa Bohannan, a Nevada mother and member of UltraViolet, whose two-year-old son was born with a severe congenital heart defect, has undergone two surgeries, and relies on the ACA’s pre-existing conditions and annual/lifetime cap provisions;
• Elizabeth Enright, a breast cancer survivor and member of MomsRising, who as a result of a pre-existing condition was unable to get health care before the ACA;
• Felicia Willems, National Health Care Campaign Director for MomsRising, whose family had a health care crisis and son’s life was saved because of Medicaid. Because Willems had to quit her job to take care of her son and had a pre-existing condition, she went without health care until the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
• Signe Espinoza, a Philadelphia woman who relied on Medicaid to get access to treatments at Planned Parenthood
• Brenda Lozado, a home care worker from Colorado who raised two children as a single parent earning less than $11 per hour.  If the Affordable Care Act is repealed, many home care workers will likely lose their jobs.

ORGANIZATIONAL SPONSORS INCLUDE: American Federation of Teachers, Center for American Progress, FamiliesUSA, Indivisible, MomsRising, MoveOn.org, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Organizing for Action, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Protect Our Care Coalition, the Service Employees International Union, Town Hall Project, and UltraViolet.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.facebook.com/events/1490776790966115/

WATCH LIVE ON FACEBOOK HERE: weareultraviolet.org/SpeakOut

After the Capitol Hill speak-out, members of the coalition, flanked by kids dressed in superhero costumes, will deliver stories on the importance of health care to Congress, asking them to “be a superhero for American families,” opposing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and pledging to protect Medicaid.