http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/obamacare-progressives-town-halls-235333

Obamacare is blowing up congressional town hall meetings from California to Virginia. But high rollers aren’t stepping up to write checks to defend the law and possibly turn voter outrage over losing coverage into a sustainable movement.

Though many Republicans charge the town hall sessions are stoked by moneyed interests and professional protesters, health care groups and foundations that have been crucial to the Affordable Care Act cause have remained on the sidelines. Without cash, the smaller progressive organizations left could be hard-pressed to fight a long battle as conservatives spend heavily to pressure lawmakers to finish off the law and, possibly, revamp Medicaid.

“If you’re looking for where funding used to go to fight for the health care bill … I think you gotta keep looking,” said Ezra Levin, a former Democratic congressional staffer now helping direct the Indivisible Project, which is organizing pro-Obamacare demonstrations and other protests against President Donald Trump’s agenda. “It’s not coming to us, at least not right now.”

The flow of funds began slowing not long after the law was passed. After securing former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement, key players involved with messaging and advocacy declared victory and moved on without fully completing the sales job. The Health Care for America Now coalition, one of the most audible voices in getting the law enacted, folded in late 2013 after mounting a $60 million campaign to pass Obamacare and protect it during implementation.

It’s left to groups such as the Indivisible Project to confront GOP lawmakers and tap outrage or voter anxiety over the party’s repeal-replace effort. The progressive forces also include the Protect Our Care campaign backed by health consumer groups, and some of the original backers of Health Care for America Now. Another group, the Alliance for Healthcare Security, has aired several rounds of ads that are largely being funded by the Service Employees International Union, though the SEIU declined to specify how much it had contributed.

Huge amounts of cash for advertising and outreach may not be as essential in a social media-fueled crucible, where town hall confrontations can almost instantly go viral and organizers can rely on Facebook and other tools to mobilize. The pro-ACA groups scoff at the notion advanced by the Trump administration and some GOP lawmakers that Democrats are paying protesters to make a ruckus over Obamacare at town halls. “To say that we’re a ‘grasstops’ thing is a complete lie,” said Indivisible Project co-founder Angel Padilla.

But the pro-ACA groups are up against formidable foes. Republicans intent on not only dismantling the ACA but capping the open-ended nature of Medicaid are getting backing from money powerhouses such as the American Action Network, which is aligned with House Republicans, and One Nation, a group with ties to Senate GOP leadership that’s spending millions of dollars targeting vulnerable Democratic senators up for reelection in 2018.

http://khn.org/news/khn-on-call-whats-next-for-the-aca/?utm_campaign=KFF-2017-The-Latest&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=43341984&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9_1GvdgggkqzXvKT5fq_mHP4_2YnM-JB9ak6X07OsxNOeRkPvXsuNMM6Ar2K0ZNnRUpliWC_lblb9JzfI-iC7Q5W2WEw&_hsmi=43341984

Health care under the Affordable Care Act is poised to change — again. The Republican-led Congress has vowed to “repeal and replace” the health law known as Obamacare.

That has left many people anxious and confused about what will happen and when. So NPR’s Morning Edition asked listeners to post questions on Twitter and Facebook, and we will be answering some of them here and on the radio in the weeks ahead.

Many of the questions or comments that have come in so far have to do with timing. For example, Steva Stowell-Hardcastle of Lewisburg, Pa., said, “I’m confused about what parts of the ACA have been repealed and when those changes take place.”

First, while some parts of the huge health law have been altered since it passed in 2010, nothing substantive has been repealed in 2017.

Amid Repeal Debate, Public Views Obamacare More Favorably Than Unfavorably

Public Remains Split on Repeal but a Small Share, Including 31% of Republicans, Favor Repeal Without Replace

Large Majorities Want to Continue Federal Funding for Medicaid Expansion; Two Thirds Favor Current Federal Role over Block Grants or Per-Capita Caps

As President Trump and Congress weigh repealing the Affordable Care Act, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds more Americans viewing the law favorably than unfavorably (48% compared to 42%). This is the highest level of favorability measured in more than 60 Kaiser Health Tracking Polls conducted since 2010.

The shift largely reflects more favorable views among independents, who now are more likely to view the law favorably (50%) than unfavorably (39%). Most Democrats (73%) continue to view the law favorably while most Republicans (74%) view it unfavorably.

In spite of these more favorable views, the public remains divided along partisan lines on whether Congress should (47%) or should not (48%) repeal the law. At the same time, more of those who favor repeal want lawmakers to wait until the details of a replacement plan are known (28% overall) than want Congress to repeal immediately and work out the replacement’s details later (18% overall).

Even among Republicans, while the majority want to see Congress vote to repeal the law – fewer want them to vote to repeal the law immediately (31%) than want them to wait until they have the details of a replacement plan announced (48%), and 16 percent of Republicans do not want the law repealed at all.