the advocacy monitor

Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

VICTORY! #Trumpcare Failed!

CONGRATULATIONS! Very early Friday morning, the Senate voted on the “skinny repeal”. Senators Collins, Murkowski, and McCain voted against the bill, leading to its failure.

NCIL logo - National Council on Independent LivingThis is a HUGE win! And this is a direct result of our advocacy over the last six months. The disability community has led advocacy efforts nationwide, and due to all of our efforts, Trumpcare has failed!

We want to say a great big thank you to all of the NCIL members who have been taking action around the country. All of your calls, emails, and letters made a difference. All of your meetings had an impact. All of your protests, die-ins, and arrests changed the conversation around this issue and made sure the disability community was heard. Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t thank ADAPT, whose chapters have led and collaborated with CILs on some incredibly effective actions around the country. The failure of this bill is a direct result of all of our collective efforts. Opposition nationwide was led by the disability community!

This is not the end of our fight to protect Medicaid. There will be more Medicaid attacks ahead, and because of that, we need Congress to pass the Disability Integration Act (DIA), S. 910 and H.R. 2472. Only by ramping up our efforts can we get Congress to protect people with disabilities from institutionalization. And of course there are other fights ahead, including ADA notification bills in Congress, IL funding, and assisted suicide bills in several states (just to name a few).

But, we should all take a moment, or even the weekend, to savor this success! We did this. YOU did this. Thank you, and congratulations!