FIGHT FOR OUR HEALTH COALITION
#Fight4OurHealth
#OurFirstStand

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2017

Contacts:
Rachel Linn-Gish, Health Access California, 916-532-2128
Mike Roth, SEIU California, 916-813-1554
Maria Elena Jauregui, Spanish language, 818-355-5291

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS JOINS RALLY TO PROTECT HEALTH CARE
AFTER REPUBLICANS VOTE TO SLASH COVERAGE FOR 5 MILLION+ CALIFORNIANS, SEND HEALTH CARE COSTS SOARING
500 + Los Angeles Rally One of #OurFirstStand Events NationwideLos Angeles – Senator Kamala Harris (D-California) joined hundreds of health care workers, nurses, advocates, patients, and seniors for a rally to protect California’s health care Sunday. The event at the LAC/USC Medical Center came after Republicans in both houses of Congress voted last week to strip care from 30 million Americans, including 5 million Californians. The action is one in a series of #OurFirstStand taking place across the nation Sunday, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California).

“Right now, we are on the frontlines of a movement that believes it is wrong to play politics with public health policy,” said Senator Harris. “Stripping away insurance from millions of Americans goes against our values. We must not be silent. We must not back down.”

Also speaking at today’s rally were Dr. Mitch Katz, Director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency, doctors from the Committee of Interns and Residents, Bob Schoonover, president of SEIU Local 721, representing health care workers at LAC/USC Medical Center, and health care consumers who will lose care if the Affordable Care Act is repealed without a replacement.

The speakers detailed the chaos families and patients in California will face, and the toll the ACA repeal would have on California’s economy. Over the last 8 years, California has done more to expand health care access through the ACA than any other state, and California has the most to lose from an ACA repeal.

If the GOP Congress repeals the ACA without a replacement, they will:
· Throw our health care system into chaos
· Strip care away from millions of the poor, people with disabilities, frail seniors, sick children and undocumented families
· Cause the cost of health care to skyrocket for everyone
· Force a massive tax hike – an average of $3800 – on working people and middle-class tax payers who purchase insurance through Covered California
· Eliminate 209,000 California jobs
· Break their own promise to repeal and replace Obamacare

A new fact sheet from Health Access California details the number of Californians who stand to lose their healthcare in each Congressional District.

More than 500 people showed their determination to fight for California’s health care at today’s event. They carried signs demanding “Care Not Chaos!” and sounding the alarm over “5 Million Californians’ Care at Risk.” The Fight For Our Health Coalition (#Fight4OurHealth) is mobilizing a massive effort to protect the ACA and the more than five million Californians who count on it for their care, including 4.1 million Medi-Cal enrollees and 1.2 million who purchase coverage through Covered California. Across California this week, consumers held news conferences and candlelight vigils at offices of Republican Congressmembers McCarthy, Hunter, Issa, and Denham to illustrate the serious human and economic impact of repealing the ACA without a replacement.

A new Kaiser Family Foundation Poll found the vast majority of Americans oppose GOP plans to repeal the ACA without a replacement.

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The Fight for Our Health Coalition includes Health Access, SEIU California, SEIU Local 521, SEIU Local 721, SEIU-UHW, SEIU Local 2015, UFW Foundation, Dolores Huerta Foundation, UDW/ AFSCME Local 3930, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Project Inform, CIR/SEIU, California Alliance for Retired Americans, Community Health Initiative of Kern County, Faith in Action Kern County, California Partnership, Kern, Inyo, and Mono Counties Central Labor Council.