Murphy: Ending ACA would cause ‘humanitarian crisis’
NORWALK — One week after the upcoming election, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that could overturn the Affordable Care Act, leaving more than 260,000 Connecticut residents without health insurance.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on Wednesday held a roundtable discussion attended by about 20 people at Norwalk City Hall where they heard firsthand about the impact of ACA.
After hearing these stories, Murphy said they can bring the “ground-floor reality to DC” of what things would look like if Connecticut residents lost health insurance under ACA.
The Conecticut Mirror reported last year that more than 267,000 lowincome adults in Connecticut have coverage under the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid while another 111,000 have insurance through the state’s health care exchange, Access Health CT.
“That would be a humanitarian crisis in the state of Connecticut,” Murphy said. “We could be three months away from the ACA being gone and Connecticut being left to pick up the pieces.”
Adding urgency to this is the pending hearing to appoint Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Barrett has previously criticized the ACA and, if her appointment is confirmed, she will help decide the fate of the health care plan that provides coverage for millions nationwide.
“I know (Barrett) will deflect and evade tough questions,” Blumenthal said of the nomination hearing. “What she cannot deflect and evade is real stories. ... We need stories. We need real people to come before the committee. ... If you tell us your stories, we can defeat this.”
Blumenthal and Murphy were joined by state Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, state Rep. Travis Simms, D-Norwalk, and Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling as well as constituents who shared their experiences under the ACA.
Emily Ketling was facing being wheelchair-bound by the time she turned 70 due to her osteoperosis when a doctor suggested a medication that could keep the triathlete and figure skater, who once climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, on her feet. The medication was $3,000 a month, but Ketling only had to pay $50 a month under the ACA. She now runs a nonprofit that gets children of color into figure skating.
“Without that medicine, I might be in a wheelchair right now,” she said.
Kara Baeley, who with
Ketling organized a tribute to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said her first concern when she heard of the justice’s death was the future of her health care. Baeley, a cancer survivor, and her family are covered under the ACA. She began to schedule her regular screenings and health appointments to protect herself and had a scare after a recent mammogram.
“A bump of fear went through me and my husband’s face dropped,” she said. “These are the kind of things that terrify me as a woman and as a mother of a daughter.”
The senators also heard from Tracy Barclay, who used in vitro fertilization, about the impact Barrett could have on people who use IVF given the judge’s ties to an organization that opposes these types of fertility treatments.
Blumenthal said the Senate is working on strategies to delay the Supreme Court appointment until after the election.