Washington, D.C. – The nation’s mayors today hosted a National Mayors’ Day of Action to stress the serious impact that losing healthcare coverage would have on millions of Americans.
Mayors from cities large and small joined with key stakeholders, including residents, small businesses, hospital administrators, and others to underscore the importance of the patient protections included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which have enjoyed bipartisan support, and protected innumerable Americans from the catastrophic cost of illness.
Mayors are using #MayorsStand4All in their social media to amplify the message today and beyond. A list of participating mayors is available here.
Mayors will also hold a PRESS CONFERENCE CALL tomorrow, Thursday, February 23rd at 12 noon ET to release a bipartisan letter with more than 130 signatures to Congress that shows support for their message is widespread. To join the call, please dial Conference Call Number — 888-710-4016 and Passcode – 8954941.
See below a sampling of National Mayors’ Day of Action activity/events in cities across the country:
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Children, Health and Human Services Standing Committee is tweeting and using social media to amplify the message of #MayorsStand4All.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who serves as USCM Vice President, participated in a visit to a community health center to discuss the importance of ACA/Medicaid expansion to the New Orleans healthcare system. The clinic director & other healthcare stakeholders also participated in a media availability during the visit.
Columbia, SC Mayor Stephen Benjamin who serves as USCM Second Vice President issued a press release highlighting the 45,420 people currently enrolled by the ACA in the greater Columbia area. Benjamin is also planning a community roundtable to discuss the benefits of the ACA with residents and the community.
Los Angeles, CA Mayor Eric Garcetti has circulated a petition to save ACA and is hosting a town hall. He is also engaged in a joint statewide call-to-action with other CA mayors.
San Francisco, CA Mayor Ed Lee held a virtual phone bank, along with Mayor Sam Liccardo of San Jose, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland and Mayor Helene Schneider of Santa Barbara, among others. The statewide call-to-action asked residents to call California Congressional Representatives and tell them why they should support the ACA. Mayor Lee also joined a phone-calling effort that took place at the San Francisco headquarters of the United Healthcare Workers. There, Mayor Lee personally made calls to California Congressional Representatives, imploring them not to repeal the ACA without a substantive replacement program. Mayor Lee also visited a pair of local health institutions to show his support for the ACA. He stopped by an ACA enrollment center where he thanked employees for their work; and dropped in on the Maxine Hall Health Center and engaged in a roundtable discussion with physicians and ACA beneficiaries about the healthcare impacts that will be felt by local residents if the ACA is repealed.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in Politico the progress the city has made thus far in it’s Get Covered Campaign – a push to register 50K people for the ACA this year. NYC has also coordinated a door knocking campaign to register additional people, as well as social media around the city’s efforts including Facebook Live.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny hosted a news conference with city health officials, a U.S. Congressman, a City Councilmember, and a resident with an incurable illness to stress the serious impact that losing healthcare coverage would have on millions of Americans.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser is using social media to highlight the 96 percent of District of residents who have health coverage, which ranks DC among the top 3 states with the lowest uninsured rates in the country.
“In cities all across the country, we are seeing growing support for retaining key provisions of the Affordable Care Act that we know will help residents who need it most,” said Tom Cochran, USCM CEO and Executive Director.
