WASHINGTON - Today, at 10 a.m. MT / noon ET, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will hold a press conference call for local reporters to discuss the devastating impacts repealing the Affordable Care Act would have on Tribal communities in New Mexico.
Udall has heard from many Tribal leaders and Native Americans in New Mexico and throughout Indian Country who are concerned about efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the Medicaid expansion, which has insured an additional 45,600 Native Americans in New Mexico and has helped fill badly needed funding gaps at the Indian Health Service.
Last night, after two more GOP senators announced their opposition and derailed the latest attempt to pass TrumpCare, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he would pursue a strategy of repealing the ACA entirely, with no immediate plan to replace it. In a statement following McConnell’s announcement, Udall called the strategy “even more dangerous” for New Mexico.
Shortly before today’s press conference call, Udall will host a roundtable listening session to hear from a panel of Tribal leaders from New Mexico and around the country and Tribal health experts on how repealing the ACA would affect their communities. Watch here from 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m. MT.
To participate in the press conference call, please contact Udall’s Press Office: news@tomudall.senate.gov.
Let us know if you will call in, and we will respond with the phone number and identification code for the call. It is helpful — but not required — if you tell us if there is a specific topic you would like the senator to address.
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