About

Season 2, Episode 1 — 22 June 2017 About this episode Today’s episode is particularly urgent. The Senate released its bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid this morning. Listen to it right away then get busy. TASH talks with Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia, a Policy Manager with The Indivisible Project, about what this bill means and how you can talk to your Senator — Republican or Democrat — to effectively convey the importance for people with disabilities of it not passing. About the presenters Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia is a contributor to The Indivisible Guide and Policy Manager with The Indivisible Project in Washington, D.C., where he helps demystify Congress for 6,000 Indivisible groups across every congressional district in the country. Previously, he advocated for the rights of workers, immigrants and survivors of human trafficking through several NGOs including the Worker Justice Center of New York, the Freedom Network, and Humanity United. Gonzalo was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He holds a BA cum laude from Cornell University. Donald Taylor is responsible for membership and chapters at TASH and is the producer of Amplified. Transcript Announcer: You’re listening to TASH Amplified, a podcast that seeks to transform research and experience concerning inclusion and equity for people with disabilities into solutions people can use in their everyday lives. Today we are talking with Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia, who is a Policy Manager with The Indivisible Project. Indivisible started as a 23-page guide on how to influence your congresspeople, written by former congressional staffers with first-hand experience of what works and what doesn’t work. The guide had been downloaded over 2 million times and Indivisible now comprises nearly 6,000 local groups. Their primary focus in recent weeks has been on preventing Congress from repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and cutting $800 billion from Medicaid — which they could do as early as next week. We talk with Gonzalo about what TASH members can do to protect these essential rights of people with disabilities. Musical introduction Complete transcript forthcoming Donald Taylor: The American Health Care Act is really close to having the votes to pass in the Senate. So I think the idea is to look at specific [influenceable] Senators. Which Senators, and in which states, are the most important Congresspeople for citizens to try to influence? Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia: Yeah, so there’s two answers to that. You know, the first answer, of course, is we encourage people to call whoever their individual two senators happen to be in whatever state they are. And there is work to do in all in all states. But as a national campaign, of course, we have to hone in on certain targets, especially now that we’re getting into the final stretch. You know, the House has already voted. We are now in the Senate and in we are in the final stretch of the Senate negotiations. And what the Republican caucus and leadership is trying to […] The post How to Talk to Your Senator About Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act appeared first on Tash.org.