Nationwide, Americans Fight GOP Efforts to Repeal Healthcare Protections

As Republicans work behind closed doors to pass their deeply unpopular health care repeal bill, Americans all across the country are protesting this deeply harmful legislation. If passed, it will likely end Medicaid expansion and undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

 

Ohio: Vox: Dozens of activists are driving across the country to attend a Republican senator’s coffee date

In Ohio, a chapter of Indivisible, an anti-Trump resistance group, will bus dozens of people to Washington, DC, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they will show up at a weekly “constituent coffee” that Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), a crucial vote on health care, holds in the Capitol for out-of-state visitors. Portman’s coffee meetings are usually quiet, uncontroversial affairs attended by business groups or curious tourists, but Meryl Neiman sees it as a rare opportunity for activists to tell the senator not to vote for Republicans’ health care bill.

 

West Virginia: Charleston Gazette-Mail: Protesters rally against AHCA in Charleston

Protesters gathered Friday afternoon across the street from the Emergency Room at Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital to rally against the American Health Care Act, which they say threatens health care coverage for 51 percent of children in the state. Stephen Smith, director of the Healthy Kids and Families Coalition, participated in the event. Gary Zuckett, of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said in a prepared statement that one child losing health care is too many and called cutting health care coverage for children and families “immoral, unconscionable and basically wrong.”

 

Maine: WGME: Protesters urge Sen. Collins to vote 'No' on healthcare bill

The protesters occupied Susan Collins’ office, saying the republican health care plan would be catastrophic for Americans, leaving more than 23 million people without health insurance. Senator Collins has not said how she will vote on the health care repeal bill. Protestors hope she hears their concerns when she makes her decision. Protesters also say the republican plan will make it harder for people with pre-existing conditions to get coverage.

 

Florida: Orlando Sentinel: Protesters urge Rubio to vote against GOP health care bill

Speakers criticized the American Health Care Act, which narrowly passed the House by a mostly partisan vote of 217-213 before a Congressional Budget Office analysis said the bill would result in 23 million fewer people with health insurance by the next decade. Republicans in the Senate have said they would most likely write their own bill instead of voting on the AHCA, but For Our Future called for Rubio to oppose any bill that increases the number of uninsured, ends the Medicaid expansion “or Medicaid as we know it,” or eliminates protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

 

Colorado: CBS Denver: Coloradans Protesting Obamacare Repeal: ‘Why Do I Need To Suffer?’

“If we end up with Trumpcare, nobody is really sure what will be covered and that’s a little scary for us because Medicaid covers everything,” says Elizabeth Colatrella, who has Multiple Sclerosis and is on Medicaid. A bill passed by House Republicans would cut Medicaid by more than $830 billion dollars. The Senate is writing its own bill.