The reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule is a stark example of “evidence-free” policymaking that ignores scientific data, resulting in a policy that will harm women and children around the world and, ultimately, the American people. For more information, see article in New England Journal of Medicine (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1701294). For information on bill, see here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/210

I have worked at Starbucks for 10 years -- going on 11. I am an expecting mother, and I am asking Starbucks to expand its new paid parental leave policy to ALL employees - not just those who work in the corporate office. Last year my son Kai was born, and he died due to complications from delivery after only two days. Starbucks said I wasn’t allowed more paid maternity leave because there wasn’t a baby anymore - I got a total of $140 dollars. You never think something like that will happen to you - and with all the stress and heartbreak, it is so hard to also have to worry about finances instead of just being able to grieve. My husband and I just found out that we’re expecting a baby this summer. And when we heard the news that Starbucks had a new parental leave policy which seemed great - new parents in the corporate office get 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave, plus an additional 6 weeks for birth recovery. But you know what? Expecting parents who work in the stores - baristas like me - are being offered much much less. New moms get only 6 weeks, and new dads and adoptive parents don’t get ANY paid time off at all. Are our babies and families less important than those born to corporate employees? I am asking Starbucks to do what is right by offering the same parental leave benefits to in-store employees as new parents who work in the corporate office. Because my babies need just as much time with me as their babies need with them. I only had two days with my first child. I know how precious every minute is during that early time. I know that every parent deserves the chance to bond with their baby, and that you can’t get that time back. Please, Starbucks, your baristas deserve the chance to be there with their babies, just as much as the staff in your corporate headquarters.

A Medicare Option would be Medicare in about nearly detail except for how it is paid for. Premiums would be collected which would fully cover its costs just as the insurance company’s premiums cover their costs. However, the Medicare Option premiums would be considerably less as would the deductibles and co-pays. That is because for one thing the insurance company profit and overhead would be eliminated. Secondly, the existing Medicare provider fee schedules are much less than the insurance companies are able to negotiate. Implementation should be relatively easy since the Medicare bureaucracy is already in place and functioning effectively with a high degree of user satisfaction. All existing Medicare rules and regulations would apply, except for the collection of premiums and penalties which still apply as part of ACA. The existing network of Medicare doctors and hospitals would be utilized as the provider sources for the Medicare Option patients. The providers would bill Medicare for their services the same as they currently do for those 65 and over. Optionally, Medicaid could be eliminated as its current patients could also elect the Medicare Option, with the provision they pay no more than currently. Present funding for Medicaid would be transferred to Medicare. ACA’s current subsidies would stay in place to help patients with their premiums as would all other positive aspects of the ACA. Penalties for not participating would remain to encourage participation, whether it is with one of the insurance companies or the Medicare Option. Over time “Medicare for All” would become a reality right before our eyes! Users of every other plan, including those of employers, will want to migrate to the Medicare Option because it will be the most affordable, comprehensive and accessible plan available. It’s a win-win in every aspect for the people of our nation.

The GOP attempt to dismantle the ACA and replace it with a degraded system that provides tax cuts to the 1%.

If the House and Senate pass the Repeal and Replacement of ACA; it will put many people in jeopardy. Medicaid must be kept intact - and tax credits are simply not an adequate replacement for them. My family and many others that I know will be seriously hurt if this program goes into effect.

It's time to shut the insurance industry down and go to a Medicare-for-all-style system. Almost every developed country except the United States has some version of a single-payer system.

Issues and cost of healthcare, need to be experienced by all, especially by those who decide for the rest of us.

Trumpcare will take back all of the progress we have made for genetic testing, privacy, and cost.

The Paul Ryan American Health Care Act would eliminate approximately 15 MILLION people that currently have healthcare insurance to once again being WITHOUT healthcare insurance. The Paul Ryan American Health Care Act would ELIMINATE federal monies designated to each State's Medicaid program to help cover the cost of citizens in that state being added for healthcare coverage. The Paul Ryan American Health Care Act would FORCE local hospitals to treat individuals ONLY through the emergency rooms across American and in rural communities would FORCE hospitals to close. The Paul Ryan American Health Care Act includes an "age tax" that would force Americans age 50 to 64 to pay THOUSANDS more for health care. The Paul Ryan American Health Care Act weakens Medicare – that could open the door to benefit cuts or turning Medicare into vouchers that would NOT provide enough funds to actual receive health insurance coverage. Between the age tax and the reduced tax credits, premiums will soar, especially for persons 50 to 65 years of age, and rate hikes could be as high as $8,000 more just to keep the same coverage. And, the Paul Ryan American Health Care Act takes the LIMITS off how much MORE insurance companies can charge older Americans going from 3% to over 5% for the cost of the monthly premiums. Finally, the Paul Ryan American Health Care Act DOES NOT REQUIRE that mental health services be provided, nor preventative health services. These are just a few of the problems in Paul Ryan's American Health Care Act. Does this sound like it going to help or hurt you, or someone you love?

Anyone hoping to be over 50 someday must stand against TRUMPCARE now for their own future healthcare needs, and the healthcare of all Americans.

It seems the Republican President, Republican Senate, and Republican House thinks that the lower and middle class can afford high premiums, high deductible's, high out of pocket expenses, and out of control prescription prices. I am a disable person. My premium costs for insurance right now takes one -third of my disability pay. I can't even get out of my deductible and out-of- pocket costs before the next year renewal starts. My bills keep mounting. My message to our leaders is try to walk in our shoes. If they really cared about the lower and middle class, they would really fix healthcare instead of issuing vouchers that don't work, or requiring us to buy private insurance which we can't afford. None of them are lower or middle class, so stop pretending that you care and that you are going to fix this. My solution is that if Congress and the President think this is an easy fix, let them work for minimum wage or live on Medicare or SSDI. I bet if they were in the average lower and middle class family situation of working two jobs or more, paying for all living expenses and then trying to pay for healthcare, with its high deductible's, high out-of-pocket costs, high premiums, and then prescription drugs along with that, there would be a great change in healthcare.

In a pre-dawn meeting last week, the majority Republican House Ways And Means Committee voted to approve the Trump/Ryan repeal of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and replace it with a bill that would deprive the most vulnerable American citizens of insurance and raise premiums and limit coverage for most of the rest of us, all in the name of a $600 billion tax cut for the very wealthy. They should be on notice that we are watching and we will not sit passively.