Post by bot on Jan 22, 2017 22:28:18 GMT -5
The American People to Republicans: Don’t Take Away Our Health Care
Last week, Congressional Republicans took the first step toward repealing the Affordable Care Act, yet they still haven’t shown the American people their replacement.
At community events over the weekend, Republican Members heard from outraged constituents:
Aurora, Colorado:
“When Berthie Ruoff arrived at the Aurora Central Library to meet with Congressman Mike Coffman, she was hopeful to find encouraging answers about the impending changes to the Affordable Care Act.
“’My husband passed away and the only way I was able to get insurance was through the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare,’ Ruoff said.”
“When she walked in, she saw a crowd she didn't expect.”
“‘There were hundreds of people here,’ Ruoff said.”
“While the crowd was waiting inside the lobby, singing and chanting, Aurora Police officers are putting up crime scene tape to create a perimeter outside of the library. This allowed Coffman to leave secretly at about 3:24 p.m. unbeknownst to those still waiting to see him.”
Spokane, Washington:
“The crowd turned on local Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at the Spokane Convention Center on Monday… During the rally, attendees were heard booing McMorris Rodgers, yelling the word ‘liar’ and chanting about saving healthcare.”
Modesto, California:
“Melissa Santos attended a candlelight vigil Thursday outside Denham’s office in Modesto, urging the congressman to consider the medical needs of San Joaquin Valley residents.”
“‘We need to see a replacement plan, if there’s going to be one, before repealing (the ACA),’ Santos said. ‘Some people won’t be able to afford insurance and will lose their coverage.’”
“‘Who knows how long that will take and if the replacement will be beneficial,’ Santos remarked.”
And in communities across the country, Americans are speaking out: sharing stories of how the ACA has helped them and urging Republicans to abandon their efforts to take away health care from millions of Americans:
Laveen, Arizona:
“The possibility of an Obamacare repeal has rattled Arizonans who gained coverage under the health law.”
“Laveen resident Paulina Serna said she’s scheduling medical appointments as quickly as possible for her 8-year-old daughter, Paulina, whom doctors are testing for a possible kidney ailment.”
“Serna, her husband and two children recently signed up for coverage under the state’s Medicaid expansion. Serna’s 8-year-old son, Luis, has spina bifida and is covered under a separate AHCCCS program for long-term care patients.”
“‘I'm halfway through finding out what's wrong with my daughter and I'm trying to squeeze in as many appointments as I can,’ Serna said. ‘We better take advantage of this privilege of being on AHCCCS because we don't know what's going to happen.’”
Hartford, Connecticut:
“For Isabelle Endicott, the act meant that she wouldn't have to worry about the more than $250,000 medical treatment her infant son required for a pre-existing heart condition.”
“‘I am now worried about Rylan's future,’ she told the crowd. ‘My family would have been in serious financial trouble.’"
Sunrise, Florida:
“‘Everything just kinda collapsed,’ said Suzanne Boyd, referring to being dropped by her insurance company in the middle of her struggle with lymphoma. ‘Stem cell treatments and radiation ... I needed a lifeline.”
“‘If I did not have that opportunity, I don't know what would have happened,’ Boyd said.”
Des Moines, Iowa:
“For Madalyn Anderson, the fight is deeply personal. Her daughter had her own health insurance but was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 27. She is now in remission, but Anderson worries for the future.”
“‘If we take away the protections of the ACA, she’s not going to be protected for that preexisting condition and that lifetime cap is going to be taken away, so what’s going to happen if her cancer comes back? She has two little children, she did everything right. There’s more than personal responsibility here, there’s social responsibility,’ says Anderson.”
Louisville, Kentucky:
“‘I’ve recently been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease,’ said Kristen Arant. ‘And I am now suffering from chronic pain due to pinched nerves in my back and I am terrified of what will happen to me if I lose my health insurance.’”
Portland, Maine:
“‘For us as a family, whether we would have taking on the burden of the cost and gone into a tremendous debt, I don't know,’ said Portland resident Linda Bond. ‘I think it's hard to say what would’ve happened.’”
“[Bond] says that because of the Affordable Care Act, her daughter was able to afford the treatment she needed to survive a near death experience with an autoimmune disease.”
“Emma survived - and moved on to graduate at the top of her law class and start a successful career. But that health scare still haunts her mother. ‘I still have…I think I would describe it as post-traumatic stress syndrome. If ever Emma calls with a certain tone in her voice I can just feel my heart drop,’ she said.”
Bowie, Maryland:
“Alan Edwards, of Manchester, stood outside with a poster that read, ‘The ACA saved my wife's life.’”
“Edwards said his wife had just graduated from law school when she was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. Their health insurance covered her surgery and treatment, and the Affordable Care Act remains important to them, he said.”
“‘Without the provision of ‘no pre-existing conditions’ blocking health care in the future, she can continue to be insured and get treatment for the rest of her life, which is what it's going to take,’ Edwards said.”
Boston, Massachusetts:
“Thousands of people gathered outside Faneuil Hall on Sunday in protest of an effort by the president-elect and congressional Republicans to revoke President Obama’s signature health care law.”
“Abby Kessler, of West Newton, is a self-employed acupuncturist. In the past, she said, she had been unable to afford the ‘astronomical insurance costs for a business of one.’ She is now covered under the health care law, she said, which gives her peace of mind.”
Warren, Michigan:
“Lisa Bible, 55, of Bancroft, Mich., said she has an autoimmune disease and high cholesterol. She said the existing law has been an answer to her and her husband's prayers, but she worries that if it's repealed her family may get stuck with her medical bills.”
“‘I’m going to get really sick and my life will be at risk,’ said Bible, an online antique dealer.”
Keene, New Hampshire:
“The Affordable Care Act now targeted for repeal by President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress made Gail O'Brien of Keene an overnight internet sensation.”
“The federal health care law delivered the gift of insurance to this private school teacher suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma who would have died without it.”
“Today, O'Brien says she's ‘back to square one’ with Trump vowing to strike the law from the books and replace it with a GOP, market-driven alternative.”
“‘It’s scary right now for me as well as for millions of other people,’ O'Brien said Saturday during a phone interview. ‘It will be back into the same boat for all of us.’”
Newark, New Jersey:
“Klein, of Haddonfield, didn't work while she cared for her ailing mother, and said she wouldn't have been able to afford coverage if it wasn't for the Affordable Care Act. Her coverage allowed her to have five surgeries at the center last year that ultimately saved her, she said.”
Saranac Lake, New York:
“At a protest Sunday in Saranac Lake, Abigail Newton described struggling to live with diabetes before Obamacare. ‘I received my insulin from a homeless youth clinic. I don’t have much money, I'm almost [out] of insulin and I'm a Type-1 diabetic,’ she recalled.”
“Newton said even when she found a good job that offered a health plan, her pre-existing condition made it unaffordable. Then came the Affordable Care Act and everything changed. ‘My Franklin County Obamacare navigator helped me find an endocrinologist, an eye doctor and a family physician. That is a miracle.’"
Asheville, North Carolina:
“Ashley Jones, a 26-year-old nanny, signed up for Obamacare last November. ‘My fear is losing it,’ said Jones, who is studying to be a phlebotomist and an EMT.”
“‘I have to have my insurance for college,’ Jones said, who was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) as a teen. The medicine she takes would cost $1,000 a month without insurance, she said. ‘With me going to school, that’s something I really have to have,’ Jones said.”
Cincinnati, Ohio:
“‘I'm a single mom, and I have my own company,’ Schuster said. ‘I wasn't able to afford the insurance that wasn’t through the [ACA], and so [now] my premiums are lower, I'm getting my preventative care. I'm getting my checkups.’”
Portland, Oregon:
“Alexandra Ninneman, a first year medical student at Oregon Health and Science University, said the prospect of repealing the ACA is frightening. Her father is on Medicaid and she worries he’ll lose coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.”
“She has a message for Congress: ‘Protect Americans. Protect our patients.’”
Allentown, Pennsylvania:
“‘I’ve been stockpiling the meds so I can put off the day of reckoning, but I don’t know where I'm going to get $415,’ said Robert Trotner of Allentown who said he relies on Obamacare to help pay for his medications.”
“Trotner said he’s worried he may not be able to afford all of his necessary prescriptions if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.”
Johnston, Rhode Island:
“People like Barbara Capobianco are afraid to go back to a world before Obamacare. She used to pay over $2,000 a year for her medicine. But now she's one of more than 15,000 seniors in Rhode Island who have saved on prescriptions under the Affordable Care Act.”
Spartanburg, South Carolina:
“Laura Lowery of Fountain Inn also showed her support for the ACA. ‘They don't have a plan to replace it with,’ Lowery said. ‘Repealing it would throw at least 20 million people off health care and that's not right.’”
Knoxville, Tennessee:
“’I’m here today because my healthcare depends on the Affordable Care Act. It might not be a perfect program, but it’s better than what else is out there.’ said Rebecca Saldivar ACA enrollee and small business owner.”
Houston, Texas:
“Demetria Smith lost her son to heart disease years before the Affordable Care Act was in place.”
“‘I went to six different insurance companies and they all denied him because he had a preexisting condition,’ said Smith.”
Salt Lake City, Utah:
“Stephanie Richardson is a cancer survivor with a preexisting condition. She held a sign crediting Obamacare with saving her life.
“‘Had I not had my Obamacare, which I proudly call Obamacare, I don’t think I would have gone to the doctor because now those preventive screenings are covered 100 percent,’ Richardson said.”
Richmond, Virginia:
“Ashley Hawkins, a mother of two, also spoke at the rally. ‘Without insurance through the ACA, I fear that I would not be able to go to work every day and to cover costs of childcare for my children,’ she said.”
“Hawkins said she had a pre-existing condition and says she needs the ACA to survive.”
Click here to read the PDF.
www.democraticwhip.gov/sites/default/files/Constituent%20Outrage%20GOP%20ACA%20Repeal%20Doc%20011717%20FINAL.pdf
