U.S. Poverty Weekly Update March 14, 2017
U.S. Poverty Campaigns
Weekly Update | March 14, 2017
“Many members of Congress use apathetic rhetoric while promoting the repeal of the ACA, seemingly forgetting that there are human beings behind the statistics.”
—RESULTS Allentown, PA volunteer Deidre MacDonald in a March 10 letter to the editor in the Allentown Morning Call
- Got Two Minutes? Call House and Senate Members about Protecting Medicaid
- Got Ten Minutes? Use Medicaid Threats to Get New People into Action (March Action)
- Got Twenty Minutes? Send in Letters to the Editor Rejecting Devastating Changes to Medicaid
- Join “The New Jim Crow” Virtual Book Club Series this Thursday at 8pm ET
- Quick News
- Upcoming Events
Quick Media Action: Tell Congress to Reject Dangerous Cuts to Medicaid
| Take Action! |
Got Two Minutes? Call House and Senate Members about Protecting Medicaid
As discussed on last Saturday’s U.S. Poverty National Webinar, RESULTS is turning our attention to protecting Medicaid in the wake of the House’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and end Medicaid as we know it.* If this plan is approved, Medicaid funding would “capped” for each state, resulting in rationed care, people losing coverage, and poverty going up. Let Congress know that this plan is wrong for America.
TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to call your House and Senate offices about protecting Medicaid. Call the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or find direct numbers at: http://capwiz.com/results/dbq/officials/ and leave this message (or your version of it).
My name is _______________ and I am a constituent from ______________. I am calling because I am alarmed about proposed changes to Medicaid. The House plan cap Medicaid spending would result in lost coverage, rationed benefits, and end the program as we know it. The plan cuts Medicaid by $880 billion over the next ten years, forcing states like [your state] to pay more or make cuts in services and enrollment. As a result, the CBO estimates that 14 million low-income children, parents, seniors, people with disabilities, and others will be forced off the program. Under this plan, no one’s health care is safe. I urge Rep./Sen. ______________ to tell Congressional leaders to strongly voice his/her support for protecting the structure and integrity of Medicaid.
If you cannot get through, go to: http://capwiz.com/results/issues/alert/?alertid=12788156 and send an e-mail message about protecting health care for low-income Americans!
*We will remain vigilant, but it appears at this time that Congress will put off its attack on SNAP until 2018.
Got Ten Minutes? Use Medicaid Threats to Get New People into Action (March Action)
This is the time. After months of speculation of what might happen with anti-poverty programs, we now have a first formal assault on the safety net. Last week, House leaders released their proposal to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act called the American Health Care Act This bill would undo many of the provisions of the ACA while also making drastic changes to Medicaid and forcing 14 million people off Medicaid over the next ten years (see details below).
This is a grave threat to the well-being of millions of low-income Americans, many of them children, elderly, or persons with disabilities. It will take all we have and all we can do to prevent this plan from becoming law. RESULTS volunteers are certainly up for the task. Yet you also have an untapped resource RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter has as “a once in a generation moment” where countless people are now looking to get off the bench and make their voices heard.
This month, we urge you to reach out to new people in your community and urge them to get into action. The stakes are too high not to enlist as many voices as possible in this critical fight to preserve decency and compassion in our public policy.
TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to list the ways you can reach out to new people in your community to get involved with RESULTS. The March Action has ideas and resources to plan an outreach meeting. See also our March 2017 National Webinar resources for ideas on how to engage people in other ways beyond the traditional outreach meeting. The recording is particularly helpful as RESULTS volunteers Debbie Baskin and Jami-Lin Williams share their experiences in engaging new people. Finally, we have a numbers of resources to help you, including one-page Action Sheets on Medicaid, SNAP, and the EITC, as well as various PowerPoint presentations you can tailor to your particular needs. Find them on our Outreach Resources page. If you have questions or need coaching to do outreach this month, please contact Jos Linn ([email protected]) for assistance.
See RESULTS’ press statement opposing Congress’ attempts to dismantle safety net programs in the RESULTS Newsroom.
Got Twenty Minutes? Send in Letters to the Editor Rejecting Devastating Changes to Medicaid
As Tricia Brooks of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families explained last Saturday’s U.S. Poverty National Webinar, the new American Health Care Act (ACHA) makes drastic changes to health care in America, in particular Medicaid. As she explained, the plan would let the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion “wither on the vine” and also covert traditional Medicaid from a guaranteed benefit to a capped amount of funding per beneficiary to each state (similar to a block grant). As a result, states would have fewer resources to cover low-income individuals in their states, thus forcing them to either spend more money to cover people or cut services and/or enrollment.
Now we have the report from the Congressional Budget Office which paints a bleaker picture than many experts thought. The CBO report released yesterday states that under the ACHA, an estimated 24 million people will lose health coverage by 2026. 14 million of these people would lose their Medicaid coverage by 2026 and Medicaid spending would decrease by $880 billion. This is a front-end assault on low-income Americans and we need to do all we can to stop it. Generating media in opposition to this plan is a great way to let lawmakers and your communities know just what’s at stake.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to draft and send a letter to the editor urging your members of Congress to oppose the new proposal to end Medicaid as we know it. Use our online media alert to send a letter telling your representatives and senators by name to protect Medicaid from cuts and structural changes. If you’ve recently had a letter published, send in a new one or try another paper in your state. Find media outlets in our Media Guide. If you need help, please contact Jos Linn ([email protected]) for assistance.
We sincerely thank Tricia Brooks for speaking with us on Saturday’s webinar. She provided us a wealth of information and we appreciate her sharing her time and expertise. Learn more of what she said on the webinar recording, slides, and summary, which are found on our National Webinars page.
Join “The New Jim Crow” Virtual Book Club Series this Thursday at 8pm ET
The intersection or race, poverty, and oppression has been of growing interest and concern for RESULTS volunteers over the last few years. Last year, volunteers read “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates and then discussed it amongst their groups. Volunteers and staff also went through anti-oppression training in 2016. To continue this conversation and raising of awareness, we are hosting a “virtual book club” over the next two months to discuss The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. This will be the first of four webinars to discuss the book (about every two weeks). If you are interested in exploring the relationship between advocacy and anti-oppression and better understand the link between racism and incarceration rates in America, please join us. The first webinar is this Thursday, March 16 at 8:00 pm ET. To participate in the webinar, login at http://fuze.me/34326078 or dial in by phone (201) 479-4595 Meeting ID: 34326078#. Please read the Introduction and Chapter 1 of the book before Thursday (if you don’t have a copy of the book, you can read these sections online here).
Quick News
International Conference Testimonial is Motivation to Register Yourself. The RESULTS International Conference is one of the most informative, engrossing, and inspiring events of the year. RESULTS REAL Change Fellow Tiffany Wood, in a blog post last week, says “the International Conference remains one of the most amazing experiences of my life.” At this annual event, hundreds of advocates from around the world converge on Washington, DC to remind elected leaders that ending poverty must be a top priority. This year’s Conference (July 22-25, 2017) will be one of our most important. With unprecedented attacks on global and U.S. poverty-reduction efforts already underway, we need you and people you know there with us. We’ll be offering an array of skills and issue workshops, not to mention top speakers in the field of poverty. It’ll culminate in a powerful Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill as advocates meet with members of Congress and their staff to discuss the issues. As Tiffany says, “If you want to meet incredible advocates from all over the country (and the world!), if you want to learn new skills and sharpen the ones you have, and if you’re eager to take the issues you care about straight to your members of Congress on Capitol Hill, there is no better opportunity. The International Conference changed my life, and I think it will change yours, too.” Register for your own life-changing experience today!
REAL Change Interviews to Begin this Month. The RESULTS REAL Change Fellowship is designed to recruit and empower the next generation of young advocates. The Fellowship is open to 18-30 year olds who want to become powerful voices for the end of poverty. It includes attending the RESULTS International Conference and ongoing training throughout the year. Interviews of current applicants will begin soon. If you know any young potential new advocates, please urge them to apply today before it’s too late.
Getting Too Many E-mails? If you feel like you get too many e-mails (or not enough) from RESULTS, go to http://capwiz.com/results/mlm/verify/ and scroll to the bottom of the page to manage your subscription with us.
Help Us Get Your Local Action Networks Connected. If you’d like RESULTS to send alerts and weekly updates directly to your Local Action Networks, please send us your list (names and e-mails are necessary and physical addresses (or at least zip code or state) are helpful). Send your lists to Jos Linn at [email protected]. All persons will be signed up for weekly updates unless otherwise indicated.
Please Send in your Group Plans. Please finish and submit your First 100 Days Plan ASAP at: www.tinyurl.com/First100Plan.
Upcoming Events
Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Also, find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.
Upcoming staff vacations: Jos Linn, March 18-26.
Upcoming Congressional Recesses: Senate, March 16-17; House and Senate, April 10-21.
Training Call: Creating Bi-Partisan Support for our Issues in our Communities: A Learning and Sharing Lab, Wednesday, March 15 at 9:00 pm ET. Login online: http://fuze.me/34116938; or via phone (201)479-4595, Meeting ID 34116938#.
RESULTS Race and Advocacy “Book Club” Webinar, Thursday, March 16 at 8:00 pm ET. Join this conversation around the book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. To participate, login at http://fuze.me/34326078 or dial in by phone (201) 479-4595 Meeting ID: 34326078#.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, March 21 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. To participate, login at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.
RESULTS Introductory Call, Friday, March 24 at 1:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an Intro Call on the RESULTS website.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Saturday, April 8 at 12:30 pm ET. Participate at http://fuze.me/32255914 or (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#. Listen to previous webinars on our National Webinars page.
Good Friday Holiday, Friday, April 14, 2017. All RESULTS offices closed.
RESULTS International Conference, Saturday, July 22 – Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DC. Registration is now open!
If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Vanessa Garcia at [email protected]. You can view the most recently published minutes from Board meetings on the RESULTS website, as well as download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report.