Sacramento, CA – The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California released the following statement from SEIU Local 121RN President Gayle Batiste, RN, CNOR after the President signed a second Executive Order dismantling the Affordable Care Act, which delivered on the promise of comprehensive health coverage for millions of Californians:

“Make no mistake, the President’s Executive Orders might as well be called Execution Orders because they are designed to kill the Affordable Care Act, which will put families’ lives and financial stability at risk.

“By halting payments to Affordable Care Act plans, Trump will destabilize health care markets. It is a cruel, callous, and calculated move to reverse the progress we’ve made under the ACA, harming millions of people who are counting on this care. In California, we are fortunate that Covered California has designed a work-around to help shield consumers in our state, but this is an unnecessarily confusing, costly and mean-spirited way to try to score a political win on the ACA after repeated failures in Congress.

“Worse, last night’s order comes on top of another destructive Trump action that will allow for massive rip-offs of patients and families, promoting the sale of grossly inadequate insurance policies that enrich CEOs while providing poor coverage. The cumulative effect of these orders is to undercut the value of coverage and force families to declare bankruptcy when an illness strikes, just as they did before the ACA –but on a much larger scale.

“In the face of these attacks, SEIU members are more determined than ever to fight to protect the progress we’ve made. Trump’s orders come after Americans stood up in record number to halt the dismantling of the ACA in Congress, and we will be sure Trump is held accountable for this health care destruction.”