The Save My Care Bus wrapped up the week in Tampa and Orlando, Florida. In Florida, 2.2 million residents would lose their coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
In the morning, we stopped in Tampa and met Michael, a 26-year-old who relies on Medicaid, and his mother, Karen.
“Although my son may not have the ability to speak, he has certainly not lost his voice.
Medicaid is more than a safety net. Medicaid is a lifeline. And Medicaid provides the support and services for people like my Mike—to live at home, stay in their communities, to be cared for by the people who love them and care for them best.
The majority of technology that my son uses—assistive technology—is covered by Medicaid. Without Medicaid, people with disabilities would lose their ability to communicate.” —Karen
“I’m disabled, but Medicaid services allow me to live a full, productive life—interacting with the community. I live at home and have a personal care assistant. We go places and visit my friends.
If Medicaid services are cut or capped, I could lose everything. I could go from living at home to living in an institution. I don’t want to live such a life—nobody would. We have to rise up and fight for the Affordable Care Act.”—Michael
Hear what all of our speakers in Tampa had to say by watching our livestream here.
Afterwards, we headed to City Hall in Orlando to meet with health care advocates and discuss how repealing the Affordable Care Act would impact folks across the city.
There, we heard from Stephanie, a Community Health Manager at the Hispanic Federation. Stephanie shared how repeal would impact Florida’s Latino community.
"Because of the ACA, 4.2 million Latinos gained access to health coverage."— Stephanie speaking out in Orlando #SaveMyCare
— Save My Care Bus (@savemycarebus) March 3, 2017
"913,000 Latino adults between 19-26—including me—now have insurance plans under their parents."—Stephanie, @HispanicFed pic.twitter.com/euZtZ6DIPl
— Save My Care Bus (@savemycarebus) March 3, 2017
A final message from Stephanie: "26% of Florida Latinos remain uninsured. We must continue to make progress. Anything less is unacceptable."
— Save My Care Bus (@savemycarebus) March 3, 2017
One thing was clear from our stops on Friday: Floridians can’t afford to go back to the days before the Affordable Care Act. Repairing the ACA is the only way forward for the Sunshine State.
Orlando sent a message to Congress today: Stop playing around with our health care. #SaveMyCare pic.twitter.com/nBSKXLlAiM
— Save My Care Bus (@savemycarebus) March 3, 2017
Watch our entire Orlando event here.
