Scott Powers
Calling attention to the potential of lost health insurance benefits to disabled, young, low-income and other people under the proposed American Health Care Act, a coalition of mostly progressive political activists asked Central Floridians to urge members of Congress to reform, not replace the Affordable Care Act.
Their call, outside the Orlando offices of Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, was explicitly aimed at Rubio and at Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Posey of Rockledge, whose Congressional District 8 includes a portion of east Orange County.
Their message included acknowledgment that the Affordable Care Act has problems, but they called for Republicans to consider fixing the problems, rather than throwing it out and replacing it with the American Health Care Act.
“Today marks the seventh anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, the day we made history,” said Anna Eskamani, director of external affairs for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. “We know the Affordable Care Act needs improvements. We also understand it has expanded care for millions of Americans, and Floridians. Florida, despite political opposition, being one of the most successful states in enrollment numbers.”
Sara Isaac, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Orange County urged lawmakers “to think about the impact this will have on all of us, especially those with the least resources among us.
“The league, while acknowledging that ObamaCare is not perfect, it has improved the lives of many Americans who have more access to health care, and this legislation is not an improvement but it is a huge step back,” she said.
Besides arguing for the needs of disabled people for affordable health insurance, Tiffany Namey, chair of the Orange County Democratic Disability Caucus, also cited numbers for the increased in coverage for minorities, people with HIV.
“Your quality of your health care is likely to go down,” she predicted. “Emergency rooms will go back to playing a critical role in America’s health care system by serving low-income and uninsured regardless of their ability to pay. However, our government will no longer reimburse the hospitals through Low-Income Pool funding. This will inevitably bring wide-spread layoffs, cause cuts in outpatient services and services for the mentally ill, and cause hospital closings.”
