Activist groups praised John McCain for his promise to vote no on the Lindsey Graham-Bill Cassidy healthcare bill on Friday, but they warned against complacency as they said the fight to protect the Affordable Care Act was “not over”.
McCain’s pledge, which means Republicans can only afford to lose one more Senate vote in their quest to repeal the ACA, widely known as Obamacare, was met with celebration on the left.
But the Indivisible activist group urged progressives to continue with their frantic phone banking efforts and protests against the Graham-Cassidy bill.
Hundreds of people are planning to travel to Washington DC on Monday to protest against the legislation, which would dismantle the ACA and potentially strip millions of Americans of their healthcare.
The Center for Popular Democracy said people from across the country would be in the capital next week to take part in protests and demonstrations, while National Nurses United said nurses would join efforts to pressure senators to vote against the legislation.
Some activists will attend a Senate committee hearing on the Graham-Cassidy bill on Monday.
Indivisible activists are also holding more than 73 rallies across the country over the next week in an effort to defeat the Graham-Cassidy bill, with activists planning to hold “sit-ins or die-ins” at senators’ state offices.
“This is all hands on deck,” Indivisible said on its website. “TrumpCare is back and Republicans are as close as they’ve ever been to passing it.”
The organization has identified eight states as key to the healthcare battle, including Alaska and Arizona, and published scripts for supporters to follow when calling senators.
Activists across the country are planning to protest outside senators’ offices over the weekend.
The Bernie Sanders-backed Our Revolution organization also set up a page urging supporters to get involved.
Ken Zinn, political director at National Nurses United, said the organization was “mobilizing across the country”. Nurses were engaged in a coordinated effort to call their senators, he said, while some will also be traveling to Senate offices in DC.
“It’s worse than even the previous Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It’s going to be devastating for their patients across the country.”
Republicans have until 30 September to pass the Cassidy-Graham bill under the reconciliation process. After that date, legislation to repeal the ACA would require 60 votes in the Senate.
The Cassidy-Graham bill would transfer billions of dollars of federal funding to states and eliminate the ACA’s mandate that requires all Americans to have health insurance. It would also make cuts to Medicaid, which provides health coverage for low-income families.
Graham and Cassidy are due to take part in a televised healthcare debate with Bernie Sanders and the Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar on Monday night.
Sanders introduced his own single-payer healthcare bill on 13 September. The Vermont senator’s plan would introduce “Medicare for all”, although Sanders has acknowledged it is unlikely to pass.
Graham has attempted to use Sanders’ proposed bill to further the Republican’s ACA repeal effort, claiming on Tuesday that the Graham-Cassidy bill was “the only process left available to stop a march toward socialism”.
Donald Trump weighed in on the healthcare battle at 3.19am on Friday.
“Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as ‘the Republican who saved ObamaCare’,” Trump tweeted.
But in a sign of changing public opinion, a Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday showed that 49% of voters now support a single-payer system. The survey found that 33% of Republicans are in favor of a “a single-payer healthcare system, where all Americans would get their health insurance from one government plan”. According to the poll, 67% of Democrats are in favor of single-payer healthcare – up from 54% in April.
During previous battles over ACA repeal, activists have held protests and rallies at public events held by Republicans, but few Republicans have face-to-face meetings scheduled before 30 September.
Senator Joni Ernst, from Iowa, was the only Republican senator to face constituents this week.
She faced criticism over the Cassidy-Graham bill at a town hall event on Thursday, with audience members calling for Ernst to vote against the bill and others shouting “Kill the bill” as she spoke.
Ernst has said she is “leaning yes” on the bill.