The role our healthcare system plays is vital to the well-being of all Americans. Although it can be improved, it plays a crucial role in our communities, ensuring access to a safety net of care—regardless of race, socio-economic status, and gender or sexual identity. We call on our elected leaders and policymakers to reject the upcoming attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and to uphold and protect Medicare and Medicaid, which also have been targeted for radical change.

As a union of nurses and health professionals, we strive every day to provide high-quality care to our patients, regardless of their ability to pay or their background. We’ve seen the toll it takes when patients delay care because they simply can’t afford it.

Eliminating the Affordable Care Act without any comprehensive replacement would leave millions of Americans uninsured, increase the cost of health insurance, cause hospitals to close, and create a fiscal crisis in many states.

The Affordable Care Act provides a lifeline for many working families, people with chronic illnesses, or adult children in need of health coverage. While not perfect, at least 22 million Americans have benefited from the ACA and Medicaid expansion. Mend it, don’t end it. Losing that coverage will create serious economic harm for working families.

The ACA has also made care more accessible for millions by eliminating insurance discrimination and restrictions, stabilizing funding for our hospitals, and reducing charity care and uncompensated care costs. Our hospitals, clinics and patient care centers simply cannot afford to shoulder the additional financial costs if millions Americans lose health coverage, or if insurance companies abandon the marketplaces.

We ask you not to throw our country’s healthcare system into uncertainty for millions of Americans by repealing the ACA and by radically transforming Medicare and Medicaid. As those responsible for providing care for our nation, we ask instead that you work to improve healthcare delivery, put patients first, and protect the health and economic security of American families.