Those uninsured by the BCRA "not losing, but choosing"? Get ready to hear it more.

Bloomberg reporter Steve Dennis flags a Republican talking point in favor of their latest travesty of a 'healthcare" bill that we're likely to hear more of in the next two weeks:

Frequent GOP talking point in Senate hallways: +22M won't be "losing" health insurance, they'll be "choosing" to go without. https://t.co/o4Anh6DY5i

— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) July 6, 2017

That's in response to:

Not lose, choose. Apparently you believe freedom is optional https://t.co/WIUJz2Mxv7

— JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) July 6, 2017

This argument was first voiced byPaul Ryan, defending the first iteration of the House bill, and later by Tom MacArthur*, whose amendment undermining protections for people with pre-existing conditions secured that bill's House passage. As Cornyn, the Senate majority whip, has emerged as gaslighter-in-chief defending the Senate bill (the so-called Better Care Reconciliation Act, or BCRA), we should regard it as a kind of front-line defense. If the cabal now redrafting the BCRA in secret manages to improve the CBO score by throwing a couple hundred billion dollars back in the coverage pot -- reducing the forecast increase in the uninsured to, say, 15 or 12 million --expect to hear a lot more of it.

There is a ghost of truth in the allegation, which can be made to look more substantial by gaslight. so let's shine some stronger light,. A few points:

Senate exterminators gear up to expel Medicaid expansion beneficiaries

Earlier this spring, we had a squirrel in our eaves. An exterminator installed a one-way door, leaving the squirrel free to rattle about until circumstances drove her outside. Which of course they did, after a few days -- maybe three, maybe seven.

Way back in mid-January, when the AHCA was just an exhalation from Paul Ryan's college memories, this promise from Texas Senator John Cornyn seemed startling and impressive:

When Cornyn was asked if he was concerned about people who’ve benefited from Medicaid expansion losing coverage, he said it was a shared concern.

“Were all concerned, but it ain’t going to happen,” Cornyn said. “Will you write that down… It ain’t gonna happen.”

Fight ACA insta-repeal: Contact strategically placed friends and family

Congressional aides and other political insiders often say that elected officials pretty much discount calls and letters from those outside their own constituency. Taking that received wisdom to heart, I have been pitching friends and family in states with Republican senators to call or email those senators and urge them to reject ACA "repeal-and-delay" -- and encouraging people in my local advocacy group, BlueWaveNJ, to do the same.

Using what comes to hand, I thought I'd share my template letters here -- that is, letters to friends and family in Texas and Pennsylvania. Texas first, because interesting news prompted me to cook it up yesterday.  But the PA letter  is more of a general template, with more resources and context Ohio is next for me. Each one includes contact info and state health facts, courtesy mainly of Families USA's tool to pull same.

So if you've read this far, would you please call or write Unc in Ohio or former college roommate in Louisiana and ask them to call/email their senators? Please use/share/adapt the PA template letter (below the TX one) if it's useful - or maybe just the link library at the end of it.  Thanks...

*          *          *

Dear AUNTIE IN TEXAS:

Texas Senator John Cornyn today said something very interesting about ACA repeal:

A group of Republican governors met with Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, and some expressed concerns about the number of people who could lose insurance once GOP lawmakers repeal the Affordable Care Act.

One of the top concerns is what will happen to individuals who became eligible for Medicaid with its expansion under Obamacare. The Senate's No. 2 Republican, however, promised that no one who got coverage under Medicaid expansion will lose it.

When Cornyn was asked if he was concerned about people who've benefited from Medicaid expansion losing coverage, he said it was a shared concern.

"Were all concerned, but it ain't going to happen," Cornyn said. "Will you write that down... It ain't gonna happen."