GOP members of Congress will get an earful on health care
Republican members of the U.S. House who supported a “repeal and replace” measure on health care that will wound people with pre-existing conditions and make it possible for insurers to raise rates as they wish are about to get what they deserve.
Namely, they’re going to come face to face with constituents who recognize the Republican alternative to “Obamacare” for what it is: a lousy way for President Trump to “fulfill” a campaign promise he made over and over again: that he’d get rid of the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something better. When the first GOP effort stalled, Trump seemed almost relieved. But Republicans wouldn’t let it go, and so GOP leaders agreed to bow to their most right-wing element and cut benefits and increase costs and even weaken protections for those with pre-existing conditions, something Trump promised he’d never do.
Ah, but now they’re home on breaks and out of their caucus room, and many are going to go through what Rep. Tom Reed, Republican of upstate New York, did at a town hall, where constituents stopped just short of bringing out the tar and feathers. For in poll after poll, support for the ACA has been increasing, something GOP leaders have simply ignored.
But now they’re home. And when they return to Washington, the music they faced may force them to change their tune.
Rep. Tom Reed of New York, who was among the Republican members of Congress to vote for a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, held a string of hometown forums on Saturday where he was lambasted by crowds of angry voters and signs that read, "GOP Disaster" and "Why do you want to kill my daughter?"
Reed, whose district in upstate New York includes the cities of Ithaca and Corning, held three town hall meetings where the overwhelming majority of attendees had questions about health care. The congressman was met with boos and jeers throughout the forums, with people repeatedly chanting "Shame!" and "Vote him out!"
At the event in the town of Busti, a couple hundred people packed into a small firehouse holding up signs that read, "Agree," "Disagree" or "Lies," depending on Reed's answers. Some of the harsher signs read, "This is not a victory lap. This is a walk of shame" and "Fire Reed."
One man, who had recently donated his kidney, said he was told he's now considered to have a pre-existing condition.
"Now that I have a pre-existing condition, my cost of health care could go up significantly or I could lose health care," he said to Reed in front of the crowd in Busti.
This story was originally published May 8, 2017 at 1:06 PM with the headline "GOP members of Congress will get an earful on health care."