Coalition Tells President Trump: Free the American People from the Shackles of ObamaCare

President Donald J. Trump
The White House
Washington, D.C.

Re: On Behalf of Members of the Repeal Coalition

Passage of the first serious tax reform in 30 years through both houses of Congress is a landmark achievement. We recognize that it is but the first step in an ongoing agenda of progress, but it was critically important. We applaud you for your leadership and the hard work of leaders and members in Congress in taking action to lower taxes for workers, stimulate job creation, and enhance the international  competitiveness of American businesses.

The fact that the tax penalty imposed by the individual mandate was expunged in the final version of the tax bill also is a great benefit to the American people. The mandate is a massively regressive tax: Four out of five people paying the penalty for not having insurance earn less than $50,000 a year.

The failures of the Affordable Care Act, and the gulf between the law’s rhetoric and reality, were nowhere more evident than in seeing millions of people choosing to go uninsured even though billions of dollars are being spent to subsidize coverage. If you can’t pay someone to take something and if people find policies so expensive and deductibles so high they might as well be uninsured, then it’s clear the “Affordable” Care Act isn’t affordable at all. It is right to repeal this despised mandate.

Now that tax reform legislation is signed into law, it is time to deliver on the rest of the promises made to the American people to free them from the shackles of ObamaCare.

A recent Politico poll shows that, given a list of 15 policy issues, Republicans and Democrats both put health care as their top priority. We saw this play out recently in the Virginia elections where health reform was a key concern of voters. Even if conservative candidates don’t focus on health reform, the other side will. If we allow false narratives to go unanswered, it confuses voters because they know from their own experience the damage this law is doing. We must actively gain trust that conservatives have ideas and plans to repair the damage ObamaCare has done.

We encourage you to move quickly to fulfill your and Congress’s promises to the American people. Health reform must be the focus of the 2019 budget reconciliation instructions. And your administration’s leadership can help the Senate and the House design a bill that can muster the votes needed for passage of true health reform to give Americans more choices of more affordable health coverage and care that meet their needs.

Former President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader Reid did not rest until the ACA was passed in 2010. The American people are counting on an equal effort, with equally unflagging determination, to give them relief and provide the choices they were promised. We are ready to help you in achieving these crucial goals.

Signed,

Heather Higgins
Independent Women’s Voice

Carrie L. Lukas
Independent Women’s Forum

Grace-Marie Turner
Galen Institute

Doug Badger
Galen Institute

Michael A. Needham
Heritage Action for America

Jason Pye
Freedomworks

Daniel Schneider
American Conservative Union

David McIntosh
Club for Growth

Merrill Matthews, Ph.D.
Institute for Policy Innovation

Ken Hoagland
Defend America Foundation

James L. Martin
60 Plus Association

Dan Weber
Association of Mature American Citizens

Bob Carlstrom
The Carlstrom Group

Beverly Gossage
HSA Benefits Consulting

William L. Walton
CNP Action

Grover Norquist
Americans for Tax Reform

Jenny Beth Martin
Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund

Pete Sepp
National Taxpayers’ Union

Tony Perkins
Family Research Council

Lisa B. Nelson
American Legislative Exchange Council

Ashley N. Varner
ALEC Action

Patrick D. Purtill
Faith and Freedom Coalition

Thomas Schatz
Citizens Against Government Waste

Jonathan Bydlak
Coalition to Reduce Spending

David Williams
Taxpayer Protection Alliance

Marjorie Dannenfelser
Susan B. Anthony List

Tarren Bragdon
Foundation for Government Accountability

Jeffrey Mazzella
Center for Individual Freedom

Karen Kerrigan
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Gregory T. Angelo
Log Cabin Republicans

Colin A. Hanna
Let Freedom Ring

Phil Kerpen
American Commitment

Dean Clancy
Adams Auld LLC

Norm Singleton
Campaign for Liberty

Dan Perrin
HSA Coalition

Charles D. Frohman
Our America Initiative

Andrew Langer
Institute for Liberty

Charles Sauer
Goodman Institute for Public Policy Research

Jeff Cargerman
Market Institute

Rick Manning
Americans for Limited Government

Nancy Piotter
Virginians for Quality Healthcare

Gayle Trotter
American Women’s Alliance, Inc.

CL Gray, MD
Physicians for Reform