VIDEO: Lawmakers, Health Advocates Discuss Impacts of Overturning the ACA and Stalling on Medicaid

Thursday, July 30, 2020

VIDEO: Lawmakers Join Health Advocates to Discuss Real-World Impacts of Overturning the ACA and Stalling on Medicaid Expansion During a Health Crisis

Congressman G.K. Butterfield Joined Health Advocates to Mark Third Anniversary of the Thumbs-Down Vote to Defeat ACA Repeal in the Senate, Highlight Ongoing Sabotage of North Carolinians’ Care

**Watch the video here**

Raleigh, NC – Congressman G.K. Butterfield, Rep. Carla Cunningham, and health care advocates joined Piedmont Rising and Protect Our Care North Carolina to commemorate the third anniversary of the historic vote to stave off the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, as well as the anniversary of the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. Speakers highlighted ongoing efforts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act in court, as COVID-19 continues to surge in North Carolina and across the country, and emphasized that the stakes have never been higher to protect the Affordable Care Act. Speakers also encouraged North Carolina legislators to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which would expand health care to hundreds of thousands who need it now more than ever.

U.S. Congressman G.K. Butterfield (NC-01), who serves on the House Subcommittee on Health, recalled the tactics and people who have helped to defeat dozens of ACA repeal attempts, and remind attendees of the battles that remain today.

“Republicans continue to try to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, we voted over 50 times on Republican legislation to repeal it,” said Congressman G.K. Butterfield. “The ACA is the backbone of our country’s health care system and we cannot let it be eliminated.”

“The massive public health emergency and deepening economic crisis caused by COVID-19 should be enough for North Carolina leaders to want to expand Medicaid,” said State Representative Carla Cunningham.

As coronavirus creates many more with pre-existing conditions, DonnaMarie Woodson, a breast and colon cancer survivor who credits the ACA with saving her life, shared her disappointment in Senator Thom Tillis’ attacks against the health care law.

“I can’t even fathom why this administration wants to pull health care...it’s a war against North Carolinians,” Woodson said. “Our most vulnerable communities are at risk and health care should be a right, it’s not a privilege and everybody has the right to live.”

You can listen to the full audio of the call here.

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