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HEALTH CARE THREAD:
1. Tax fight
2. CHIP
3. Bipartisan ACA fix
4. HHS Secretary
5. Sabotage
6. ELECTIONS
7. Future: care for all—or repeal
1. Tax fight
2. CHIP
3. Bipartisan ACA fix
4. HHS Secretary
5. Sabotage
6. ELECTIONS
7. Future: care for all—or repeal
Picking this back up at 4. Topics 1, 2, and 3 are covered in the thread starting here:
4. HHS Secretary. Tom Price resigned in a toxic cloud of corruption, failure, and abuse of office. Choosing a non-awful successor = critical
The top HHS contenders: Seema Verma, a Pence acolyte now in the job once held by @ASlavitt, or Scott Gottlieb, who runs FDA. Verma's worse. 
If you've ever wondered what a Pence admin would be like, Verma's history in Indiana provides a clue. chicagotribune.com/news/nationwor…
She was paid to help the state of Indiana choose Medicaid contractors. She was also paid by HP Enterprise to help them land state contracts.
This scandal should've sunk her nomination to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. But hey, it's 2017.
indystar.com/story/news/pol…
indystar.com/story/news/pol…
Verma would continue Price's hard-charging approach to dismantling the ACA. The other front-runner, Scott Gottlieb, is less ideological.
There are also other bad candidates in the mix for HHS, like (brace yourself) Rick Santorum—so keep an eye on this. politico.com/story/2017/09/…
Trump tends to take his sweet time nominating public officials. So the acting secretary could be there a while. But this could flare up.
5. Sabotage. Yep: your government is using your tax dollars to sabotage the programs that keep your family healthy and safe.
There are many dimensions to the Trump sabotage campaign, all intended to prove Trump's lie that the ACA is imploding—and all abhorrent.
Let's focus on one particular dimension of sabotage: Trump's efforts to ensure that as few people as possible sign up for coverage.
If less people sign up through ACA marketplaces, that alone will be "evidence" that Obamacare is failing. But it's more insidious than that.
Thing is, the people most likely to buy coverage are those who know they need it: the sickest folks. Healthier people are easier to dissuade
Trump's ACA sabotage will mean the people buying coverage are sicker on average. So premiums shoot up. "Evidence" of failure—and real harm.
Trump's cut the ACA ad budget 90%. Slashed open enrollment period from 90 days to 45 days. Planned site downtime. slate.com/business/2017/…
This is a fight that all of us can join. Working to make sure people get coverage not only helps those people, it also reduces premiums.
Fortunately, an Obamacare dream team is taking on this battle—and needs your help. Follow @GetUSCovered & read this:
If you're reading this right now, you know how to use Twitter. So you're ready to be an asset to @GetUSCovered. Commit some time. Recruit.
6. ELECTIONS. By far the most powerful way to end this nightmare: elect people who don't want to take away our health care. And guess what?
Virginia has an election in 32 days. Governor. House of Delegates. Profound signal to country of political future.
days.to/election-day-i…
days.to/election-day-i…
If Ds take VA, they'll expand Medicaid—and the sea change could help spook a bunch of Rs into retiring nationwide. *Lean into this fight.*
The VA elections will also be a test of the NRA's invulnerability—stark difference btw Ds & Rs on gun issues. Lots of reasons to fight.
Ralph Northam, D candidate for governor, is running as a strong progressive. Chip in to his campaign & volunteer: ralphnortham.com
This Dec, fight for @GDouglasJones for Senate in Alabama. Winning Jeff Sessions's seat for a great Dem would be a *huge*—& prevent repeal.
You can (and should) give to Doug Jones's campaign here: dougjonesforsenate.com
And then comes 2018, which is of such awesome and vast importance that it's a topic for many future threads. In short: Plan to get involved.
Join/follow @swingleft @flippable_org @MoveOn @IndivisibleTeam (among many other orgs) for ways to help in 2018.
Finally, 7: the long term. There are really three paths: disaster, stasis, or progress.
If the GOP continues to hold the WH, Senate, and House, make no mistake: they'll again try to repeal the ACA, shred Medicaid, and much more.
At some point they'll get another Supreme Court seat. (Pray it's not next year.) We'll be in resistance mode, and we won't always win.
If government is divided, we'll probably get stasis. A la 2010-16. Lots of executive actions; few laws. Better than this. But not great.
The thing to shoot for is a full swing of the pendulum. If we help Ds retake the White House and Congress, we can fight for real progress.
Cutting prescription drug prices. Disability rights laws like the (bipartisan but not an R priority) Disability Integration Act.
And the big kahuna: the push for a health care system that covers *everyone*—*affordably.* Like, say, oh... #MedicareForAll.
Even if you're not on board with #MedicareForAll yet—there are a bunch of great proposals bubbling up. Subthread:
But the critical thing to remember is that none of them become possible without shifting power.
And there's a flipside to elections: they don't just open up possibilities. They also create accountability. We can't forget that dimension.
Nearly every R in the House and the Senate has now voted to take away health care from tens of millions of Americans. Must be consequences.
Elections open up the potential for real progress, shut down the danger to our families' health—and also send a message: never do that again
So. Those are the big seven fronts that I'm tracking right now in health care world. Surely much left out; feel free to reply with additions
Oh! One other thing. Point of personal privilege. My wife is a publicly-unsung hero in this fight: she's Sen. Al Franken's health staffer.
We've been working hand in glove together throughout this year in the health care fight. A month from now, we're being recognized together.
We're deeply honored to be receiving the Heschel Vision Award, for fusing activism w/ deep moral commitment, from @JUFJ, an amazing group.
In DC Nov 12? Join us! Coming or not, consider donating in our name to support their work. We'd be grateful. eventbrite.com/e/heschel-visi…
Jews United For Justice (I'm of the tribe; Beth's Catholic) has played a critical role a string of DC wins—for paid family leave & more.
Beth and I both feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend our working hours fighting for a better world, in concert w/ a beautiful movement.
For months after Trump was elected, we thought that repeal was a near-certainty. The actions of millions changed that. Worth celebrating.
The fight never ends. The singular focus vs repeal has smashed into multiple shards. But because of you, hope has replaced despair.
Thank you for that. And with that—I'm off to bed. Good night, Twitter. Or if you're reading this tomorrow, as I hope you are: good morning.
