--- title: Alyssa Milano: Why Health Care Will Decide My Vote in 2018 description: The Trump Administration and congressional Republicans made clear that they plan to rip health care away from those who need it most. canonical: https://time.com/5109960/alyssa-milano-health-care-donald-trump/ author: Alyssa Milano article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-22T13:00:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:47:04.905Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Alyssa Milano: Why Health Care Will Decide My Vote in 2018 og:description: The actor writes: "We have a chance to stop these cruel and careless attacks by becoming health care voters" og:url: https://time.com/5109960/alyssa-milano-health-care-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae9b0cba264f45ef/6988bb1acf40a80c3bc46894/alyssa-milano-body-image-after-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4743 og:image:height: 2668 og:image:alt: HBO's Official Golden Globe Awards After Party - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alyssa Milano: Why Health Care Will Decide My Vote in 2018 twitter:description: The actor writes: "We have a chance to stop these cruel and careless attacks by becoming health care voters" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltae9b0cba264f45ef/6988bb1acf40a80c3bc46894/alyssa-milano-body-image-after-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Alyssa Milano: Why Health Care Will Decide My Vote in 2018 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=a75e7402-20e7-4713-a975-e47be29ec067&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence Breakers [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence Breakers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jbtW5SvJ.m3u8) (5:02)  _Published 2017-12-06. For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing all of us to stop accepting the unacceptable, the Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year._ by [Alyssa Milano](https://time.com/author/alyssa-milano/) ## Alyssa Milano Jan 22, 2018 1:00 PM UTC by [Alyssa Milano](https://time.com/author/alyssa-milano/) ## Alyssa Milano Jan 22, 2018 1:00 PM UTC Let’s be perfectly clear: [Donald Trump](http://time.com/5109669/president-trumps-approval-rating-low/) and [Republicans in Congress](http://time.com/5108781/government-shutdown-2018/) are a direct threat to Americans’ access to quality, affordable health care. Over the past year, the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans have made it clear that they will stop at nothing to rip health care away from those who need it most, with near-constant attacks on Americans’ well-being and financial security. This year alone, Republican sabotage resulted in over [3 million Americans losing their coverage](https://www.protectourcare.org/gallup-poll-uninsured-rate-rose-trumps-first-year/). But with this year’s critical midterm elections fast approaching, we have a chance to stop these cruel and careless attacks by becoming [health care voters](http://healthcarevoter.org). After the election, so many of us around the country found a voice and a community in resistance. We were angry and frustrated and ready to fight back. People channelled that energy into marches and rallies, millions of calls to Congress and [civil disobedience](http://time.com/4956397/graham-cassidy-republican-health-care-protests/) — all to protect our care. As a Co-Chair for Health Care Voter, I’ve continued to support that grassroots energy by making health care my highest-priority issue this November. Earlier this year, we launched a campaign that aims to have one million constituents in communities from coast to coast [pledge to defend the progress we’ve made](http://healthcarevoter.org). Since Trump’s inauguration, we have witnessed a wave of people working against Republican efforts to undermine and [threaten our access](http://time.com/4988602/lamar-alexander-patty-murphy-donald-trump-health-care-obamacare/) to affordable health insurance. People from across the country have spoken out and shared their stories to show the impact of these devastating cuts to health care. But we cannot and will not stop demanding that the GOP quit playing politics with people’s lives. Before the [Affordable Care Act](http://time.com/4755983/ahca-health-care-lawmakers-congress-exempt/), millions of Americans with chronic illnesses and pre-existing conditions had to sacrifice far too much to afford the care they and their families needed. With their votes, Republicans have shown that they want to return to the days when families had to choose between refilling a child’s inhaler and putting food on the table, or when people paid for their insulin over their mortgage. We know that Republicans in Congress are scheming behind closed doors to further sabotage our health care system. They’ve refused to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides health coverage to more than [nine million children](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/9/16860802/chip-funding-expired-congress) nationwide. They’ve proposed [cutting funding to Medica](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/18/16741730/gop-agenda-medicare-social-security)[re](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/18/16741730/gop-agenda-medicare-social-security) to give tax cuts to millionaires and wealthy corporations. And they’ve worked to [eliminate coverage for ](http://time.com/money/4699647/gop-health-care-plan-veterans/)[veterans](http://time.com/money/4699647/gop-health-care-plan-veterans/), [make seniors pay more for insurance](http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/351703-aarp-older-americans-to-pay-16k-more-under-gop-obamacare-repeal) and [eliminate protections for people with pre-existing conditions](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/18/16330574/cassidy-graham-preexisting-conditions). We know that the Trump Administration has [worked since day one to undermine the access to health care](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/10/trump-obamacare-secret-plan-278145) and [silence those who have spoken out](https://www.bustle.com/p/who-is-laura-packard-trump-blocked-the-cancer-patient-fighting-to-protect-the-aca-2428421) against his reckless policies. He’s [slashed the budget](https://www.vox.com/2017/8/31/16236280/trump-obamacare-outreach-ads) for educating the public about enrolling for health insurance under the ACA. He nominated a former pharmaceutical executive who [tripled the price of insulin](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/14/alex-azar-eli-lilly-drug-prices-244888) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. And his administration proposed new rules that would [end Medicaid as we know it](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-opens-door-to-let-states-impose-medicaid-work-requirements/2018/01/11/d6374482-f628-11e7-a9e3-ab18ce41436a%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.606f2b68dd8f) by allowing states to enforce work requirements. But we also know that when we show up, speak out and fight back, we win. Time and again, Americans have resoundingly rejected the Republican approach to health care. With electoral victories in Alabama, Maine, Virginia and Wisconsin, health care voters have shown that they will hold Republicans accountable for voting to strip health coverage from millions and threatening families’ futures. Health care will be a [defining issue in the 2018 elections](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/12/health-care-top-issue-for-voters-could-hurt-republicans-in-midterms.html), and as we move toward the midterms and beyond, we have a responsibility to build upon the momentum we’ve created by voting for candidates who support our access to health coverage and by voting out those who have worked to block it. Our health care, our financial security and our lives will be under threat until we have representatives who will fight to protect us. But as advocates, as consumers and as health care voters, we have the power to turn our calls, marches, rallies and shouts into results at the polls. After everything we’ve fought against this year, we have no choice but to turn our anger into action and our voices into votes. Too many lives are at stake to sit this out. It’s time to be a health care voter. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] We can't all be ****. We can't all be asking for it. I am here to give you permission to be angry. This reality might not have to be our reality anymore. I felt this crushing sense of powerlessness. This is the time to take my power back. Here's my story. Uber promises. Investigation into sexual harrassment. Fox News cutting its ties with Bill O'Reilley. I felt it was my duty for the women who are silent to be brave. It's okay to stand up for yourself. Taylor Swift appearing in court today. Harvey Weinstein, the New York- People forget a lot that there's a human behind this. Someone who was very hurt and wronged. [ MUSIC ] [ CROSSTALK ] I always thought maybe things could change for my daughter. I never thought things could change for me. [ MUSIC ] Honestly, I was furious. I have had a man grope me in front of multiple collegues and I was tired of wondering if it was something I wore, I was tired of wondering if it was a vibe I was giving off and when I talked to other women they were furious too >> I felt that if I can speak out, may be if I just stand up then someone else would stand up with me >> There wasn't a place For us to report these experiences. But I sure did talk about it a lot over the years. The least I could do was actually tell my own story and validate theirs for them in a way, just as I was hoping someone much bigger than me would help validate my story. And I knew that other women Would continue to apple for jobs there and that made me feel really uncomfortable. I was afraid of the retaliation, I know the power of patriarchy. I know what men can do when their angry. They did everything that they could to prevent me from raising my concerns further. They asked me if there were other girls, maybe that he has done this too and can I go get them. I had to show them that I wasn't lying And it's like they took me for a joke. And if they couldn't stop us from talking, well, they were gonna stop everybody from listening to us. People digging into my Instagram and pulling up sexy photos as if they kind of discredited me. Well, I've seen you in committee. You're really tough. Why didn't you just hit him? Why did you let it go on for so long? I was a smart young woman that had gone to college, that knew how to fight, and I still was manipulated and conned. I felt ashamed that I hadn't spoken out sooner, not having the strength earlier on to make it stop. The feeling of being humiliated as a woman And there's a point you think is it my fault? For so long I went around harboring this ridiculous belief that because I was a non white woman in my 20s, it was expected that I would have to be treated this way. We don't have to just live like this. Few things could change from my daughter I never thought things could change from me. I'm here to give you permission to be angry, people are afraid specially women where conditioned since birth to be polite. To be nice, to be kind, to be liked to not make waves. ****. We can't all be crazy, we can't all be ****, we can't all be asking for it. And I'm telling you that all the people who stand up, all the people who speak out you are teaching people how to treat and you should not be shamed for that. The shame is not ours to hold, the shame is on perpetrator. Me Too can be a conversation starter or it can be the whole conversation. It took away the power from the predator. And placed the power on the victim. And maybe, just maybe we would be able to get a glimpse at the magnitude of this problem. The amount of people sharing the stories with me is so intense. People that were complete strangers reached out to tell very personal stories. It's What they did with this and they did a lot and not only in France in Hong kong japanese. The most months >> I feel like the day that I spoke up and I said you are a sexual harasser I changed >> some of the. Things in the night. [ FOREIGN ]. It's an honor to be the person that hey I spoke up about this. I took on the risk. And I was very humbled and I was very proud. I'm very glad now that the story has been heard. It's a direct response to that arrogance and that show of power and [ UNKNOWN ]. A sense, we won't be silenced. 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