Welcome!  You’re a hero for contacting your elected officials and telling them what you want them to do!  You will be holding them accountable to you and the rest of their constituents. 

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Here is the elected official contact information -- call them and tell them that you do not want cuts to services, higher taxes, or focus on our monthly topic. We have scripts below, but you can also use the facts as a basis to put into your own words as well. 

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White House switchboard to leave a message for the President — 202-456-1111 or email at comments@whitehouse.gov

Rep. Evans – D.C. 202-225-4001; Phila. offices (215) 276-0340, (215) 254-3400; email link

Rep. Boyle – D.C. office 202-225-6111; Phila office 215-335-3355; email link

Rep. Scanlon – D.C. office 202-225-2011; Chester office (610) 626-2020; email link

Rep. Houlahan – DC office (202) 225-4315 houlahan.house.gov/contact/

Rep. Dean – DC office 202-225-4731  www.dean.house.gov/email-me

Senator McCormick – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. office 202-224-6324; email link

Senator Fetterman – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. 202-224-4254; email link

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General Script: 
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from Philadelphia, Zip Code [____].

I'm calling [REP/SEN NAME] because I’m outraged about [insert topic here]. [Insert impact to yourself, or your community, here, drawing on the scripts below.]

I ask that [REP/SEN NAME] speak out against these [insert topic here] and demand accountability before [name impact here].

Thank you for your time and consideration. 

IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: 
Use the script above and also please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.

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Every month we will have a new topic.  The old ones will still be here. 

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July:

President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (The Trump Tax Cut Law) into law on July 4, 2025.  The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the Trump Tax Cut Law will cut federal spending on Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) benefits by $1.02 trillion, due in part to eliminating at least 10.5 million people from the programs by 2034.  Research shows that when federal funding for Medicaid decreases these cuts affect everyone, due to hospital closures and health care workforce layoffs.

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Medicaid provides health insurance to low-income populations in the U.S.  Because private health insurance premiums have become so expensive, many people on Medicaid would be uninsured if not covered by Medicaid, while others could pay for private insurance only by cutting back on other necessities that indirectly affect health.  

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The deepest cuts to healthcare spending come from the Medicaid work requirement, which is expected to end coverage for millions of enrollees who do not meet new employment or reporting standards.

Trump’s Tax Cut Law requires individuals to prove that they are working, engaging in community service, or receiving work training for at least 80 hours per month—or that they are enrolled in school part time—unless they qualify for an exemption. Medicaid enrollees who are trying to find a job, are having difficulty finding employment, or who lack reliable transportation to work would be penalized under this requirement. That includes at least more than 2.6 million adults with disabilities who don’t have SSI or SSDI and have difficulty working due to disability or illness.

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However, nearly all Medicaid recipients who aren’t automatically eligible for these services are already working.  And only 8 percent of recipients of working age and not on SSI or SSDI in 2023 “’[weren’t] working due to retirement, inability to find work, or other reason[s].” Those who were not working were statistically more likely to be older women who left the workforce to care for aging parents or children.”

 

The result?  As research indicates, these paperwork requirements —particularly for Medicaid — don’t increase employment rates and often increase overhead costs.  A group of researchers evaluated the first year of paperwork reporting requirements in Arkansas and found that there was a significant loss of Medicaid coverage in the initial six months among eligible people and no significant change in employment.

 

Georgia also implemented a trial program, called Pathways, that included paperwork requirements, and state caseworkers found the monthly verification of employment overly burdensome. To date, taxpayers have spent more than $86 million  on Pathways only to have 6,500 participants enrolled in the first 18 months of the program - 75 percent fewer enrollees than the state had estimated would participate in year one.

 

So this change in paperwork requirements decreases the number of people who can get the coverage because they may incorrectly fill out the paperwork every year. And these programs, when tried in some states, require much more work by agency workers and end up costing taxpayers more.

 

Affordable Care Act Coverage –

 

The Trump Tax Cut Law will make it harder to enroll and to retain coverage under the Affordable Care Act.In 40 states and Washington, D.C., all of which have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, some Medicaid enrollees will have to regularly file paperwork as described above.  The new requirement will start as early as January 2027.

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Further, ACA marketplace policyholders will be required to update their income, immigration status, and other information each year, rather than be allowed to automatically re-enroll — something that more than 10 million people did this year. They'll also have less time to enroll because the law shortens the annual open enrollment period by about a month.

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The Trump Tax Cut Law further did not extend current subsidies that help make ACA marketplace insurance plans affordable.  Those subsidies will expire at the end of 2025, leading to premiums that double for many people, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will cause more than 4 million more people to become uninsured.

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Along with the Medicaid cuts, and other provisions making it harder for people to enroll in ACA plans even when eligible, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the total number of uninsured will rise by 17 million people by 2034.

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https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-truth-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-acts-cuts-to-medicaid-and-medicare/

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June:

One in 4 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workers are veterans. Proposed cuts to 80,000 VA jobs would dramatically affect veterans, who are concerned about not only layoffs but also the potential effect on their services. In addition to routine primary and acute health care, veterans use VA services for conditions that may have emerged as the result of military service, such as exposure to environmental toxins, traumatic brain injuries, nerve damage, mental health conditions, and more.

Budget cuts to the VA could also affect access to care at nearly 200 VA-managed medical centers and hospitals. Overall, these cuts to staffing and funding will damage public health and safety; harm economic interests and programs, such as like the VA’s Armed to Farm program that support veterans’ transition into farming; and leave U.S. veterans without the support they were promised for serving their country.

An estimated 800 to 900 of the 1,130 crisis-line workers have always worked remotely, so ending remote work options will further undermine staffing. Current data show an average of 17.6 veteran suicides per day. Suicide remains the second-leading cause of death among veterans under 45 years old. VA staff report that the service fields 60,000 calls a month.

The VA’s investment in research, about $916 million a year, has contributed to a comprehensive understanding of veterans’ well-being, meaning the government can target aid toward those in need.

With overall budget cuts at the VA and the federal workforce reduction, at least 350 VA researchers will likely lose their jobs. That, along with a Trump directive to stop research on how poverty and race shape veteran health outcomes, will undermine not only the general well-being of veterans but also the entire medical establishment’s knowledge about substance use, mental health and deeper insights that VA research can provide on prevention and treatment of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Cutting Medicaid would hurt veterans’ health, too, because not all veterans have access to federally funded health care through the VA, for a variety of reasons. Estimates show that over the past decade nearly 10 percent of veterans use Medicaid for at least some of their health care benefits, and 40 percent of those veterans rely exclusively on Medicaid for all their health care.
 

In addition, 1.2 million veterans received aid through the federally funded supplemental nutritional access program, or SNAP. Working-age veterans face an elevated risk of experiencing food insecurity compared to their nonveteran peers.

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May: Restore and Protect Scientific Medical Research Funding (taken from the 5 Calls website)

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest sponsor of biomedical research in the world.  It drives essential innovations in disease detection and treatment. From 2010-2019, 99.4% of new drugs approved by the Food & Drug Administration were developed with NIH funding support. In 2024 alone, the NIH’s funding supported over 400,000 jobs across every state and generated $94.58 billion in national economic activity, for a return on investment of $2.56 for every $1 of NIH research funding spent.

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A leaked Office of Management and Budget proposal for HHS cuts includes dramatic cuts to NIH funding. The proposal would also formalize the administration’s repeated attempts to cap NIH indirect costs, which cover expenses like facilities maintenance and support staff, at 15%. These proposed changes will further devastate our nation’s leading source of medical innovation and research.

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The Trump administration has deliberately targeted the agency’s work. Trump’s cronies have fired thousands of NIH employees, including senior leadership, and blocked payment of millions in federal grants in open defiance of court orders.  We know that attacks on the NIH are already disrupting crucial research on diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s while driving young scientists to flee the country. These devastating threats to scientific progress will set the United States back decades and further worsen the economic devastation wrought by this incompetent administration.

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Congress must restore NIH funding and staffing and stop this political interference of the science that drives improved health.

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Call Senator McCormick and tell him he must vote NO on any cuts to NIH funding.  He must also vote to restore the funding to NIH that has already been cut.

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Call our Democratic Senators and your House Member and make sure they know you expect them to vote NO on any bill that would lead to defunding NIH.  All the cuts to NIH must be restored immediately. 

 

April: Tariffs.  Here’s the background:

 

Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China and almost all the countries in the world. These tariffs are a hidden tax for working families, driving up prices on essential goods like food, cars, and clothing. Even Trump himself admits these taxes will hurt Americans. And the damage doesn’t stop there – countries are retaliating with their own tariffs.

 

Trump’s tariffs will disrupt supply chains, raise costs for businesses, and put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk. 

 

Instead of following the usual legal process, Trump is abusing emergency powers (IEEPA) to force these tariffs through without oversight – a power grab that bypasses Congress. No president should have the power to single-handedly disrupt the U.S. economy. We must demand that Congress step in and stop this dangerous overreach.​​
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