Dear Friend,

In an unfortunate partisan effort to move our nation backwards and destroy a huge national achievement  – the culmination of over half a century of work – Republicans are attempting to repeal the health insurance reform law.

This comes at a time when we desperately need to come together as a country to reduce our national debt, and when the health insurance reform law offers a practical solution to improve the overall health and quality of life for Americans, while also greatly reducing our national deficit – by $1 trillion over the next two decades! Health insurance reform is the only clear win-win for Americans’ well-being and the American economy.

It’s no wonder, then, that the Grand Old Party would exclude the repeal of health insurance reform from their much-hyped “CutGo” rule invented to offset spending increases.  Republicans repeal of this landmark health care law would explode our national deficit by $230 billion in the next ten years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).  Republicans are creating a multi-billion dollar loophole so that their grossly expensive repeal of reform ‘doesn’t count’ in GOP record-keeping of their efforts to reduce the deficit.

If Republicans succeed, Americans will lose. Undoing the Affordable Care Act will not only endanger our nation’s long term economic viability, it will hurt American families, businesses, and workers starting immediately.  Below are some of the ways Americans will be affected if Republicans repeal health insurance reform:

• 32 million Americans will lose health coverage
• Millions more Americans will no longer be able to afford health insurance, and will have to cut the family budget elsewhere to stay insured, or be at risk of going into bankruptcy if they or a family member gets sick
• As many as 4 million jobs will disappear over the next ten years
• Young people under the age of 26 will be kicked off their parents insurance plans
• Insurance companies will once again have free reign to discriminate against people with “pre-existing conditions,” ration or limit patients’ coverage, and unnecessarily increase premiums
• Drug costs will increase for seniors with the disappearance of the Medicare prescription drug program discount (a 50 percent discount for name-brand drugs in 2011)
• An end to free preventative care
• Costs will rise for small businesses trying to provide health coverage to their employees as $40 billion in tax credits are repealed
• Jeopardize health benefits for retirees
• Insurance companies will no longer be required to cover basic and essential services, such as emergency services, prescription drugs, maternity and newborn care, and hospitalization, etc.
• A return to higher premiums for women and the elderly
• Patients will no longer be guaranteed the right to appeal an unjustified denial of coverage by their insurer

You can rely on me to do everything in my power to protect American families, workers, and businesses from Republicans’ obstructionism.  But in order to pull out all the stops this week, I could really use your help. Please make a contribution today.

I sincerely thank you for your vital support.

With every good wish,

Sincerely,

John Dingell