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How to Take Action on Health Care During the July Recess

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This page was posted to the Friends Committee on National Legislation website on June 30, 2017 by Julia Newman. URL at bottom of this post. 

This July 4 week is another critical week for the future of health care and the Medicaid program. What members of Congress hear when they’re home this week will determine whether the Senate's bill moves forward -- taking away health care from 22 million people and decimating the Medicaid program. Even if you’ve been calling and emailing your members of Congress already, your advocacy and action this week is desperately needed. Here are five things you can do:

1. Make some noise

Is your senator considering voting for the Medicaid repeal? Did your representative vote for the American Health Care Act in the House of Representatives? During the congressional recess the week of July 3, members of Congress will be at picnics and events all over their districts. This is one of the best times for them to hear from you.

Find a 4th of July parade route in your area, gather some friends, and bring some signs asking your senator or representative to save Medicaid. (Need sign ideas? How about an FCNL #lovethyneighbor sign? You can print them out here.) Take pictures, and send them to your senators, post them on social media with the hashtag #SaveMedicaid, and send them to local papers and blogs.

2. Drop by offices

Meeting with staff at local offices is one of the most powerful things you can do to help sway an undecided member of Congress. We usually suggest that you schedule meetings, but those take two or more weeks to schedule—time we don’t have!

For more on how to drop by:

Advocacy Resource Lobby Your Senators on Health Care 

The Senate is making critical choices on healthcare right now. The biggest impact you can have is meeting directly with a member of Congress or their staff. Take action to protect Medicaid, a critical, lifesaving program under threat in current legislation.

3. Find town halls

Congress isn’t just home for the holiday weekend—they’ll be in all week, and some of them will be holding town halls. Find a town hall near you at townhallproject.com and ask your member to oppose any and all cuts to Medicaid.

We’re talking a lot about the Senate right now, but the latest news is that the House of Representatives wants to pass whatever the Senate passes the next day. While we’re focused on blocking this right now in the Senate, if your representative is having town halls next week, it’s a great time to ask them to vote “no” on any legislation that cuts Medicaid.

4. Call every day

We normally suggest you call your members of Congress once a week. But now isn’t the time for normal advocacy—it’s an emergency.

If you live in West Virginia, Maine, Nevada, Alaska, Ohio, Arizona or Tennessee - states whose senators could be the deciding votes on this bill - you can find daily updated scripts here. Otherwise, use FCNL’s action alert.

Haven’t saved your senators’ phone numbers to your contacts yet? This week is the time!

5. Tell your friends

Do you have friends in West Virginia, Maine, Nevada, Alaska, Ohio, Arizona or Tennessee? Send this page to them and ask them to take action now.

Julia Neumann

  • Strategy Coordinator

Julia Neumann coordinates outreach to states that are particularly important to FCNL’s lobbying efforts, helps constituents develop their own relationships with their members of Congress, and helps the Strategic Advocacy and Legislative teams track and manage their data. Julia is FCNL's resident expert on scheduling lobby visits- last year, she helped FCNL's network schedule over 500, including those during the Quaker Public Policy Institute and Spring Lobby Weekend.

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https://www.fcnl.org/updates/how-to-take-action-on-health-care-during-the-july-recess-919

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