Health care tops town hall agenda
Courtney fields questions on Trump, ‘Obamacare’ repeal in Norwich
Across the country, federal lawmakers have faced large crowds at town hall-style meetings where the conversation has centered on Donald Trump’s first month as president.
In Norwich, where U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, addressed a supportive crowd who applauded as he entered the room Thursday night, the situation was no different.
Concerns over health care and the Trump administration’s desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act dominated the conversation at Kelly Middle School in Norwich. Courtney described a flood of calls and emails to his office from constituents asking what a repeal could mean for their health care options.
Preston Hensley, 71, of North Stonington wanted to remind the audience that the U.S. is the only developed nation in the world that doesn’t provide health care as a right of citizenship. He also advocated for citizens to have “no worse a health care system” than what’s provided to federal lawmakers.
Stew Deglin, 67, who said he’s been a physician in Norwich for more than 35 years, said he was very interested in health care costs, specifically the “outrageous cost” of prescription drugs. Deglin asked what Congress could do to help with that. He referenced a proposal to import drugs from Canada, which has been shut down by Congress several times.
Cyndi Kozaczensky from Montville described how, after getting laid off in 2012, she purchased health insurance through Aetna. It was a good plan that gave her exactly what she needed, she said, and she could afford it.
In August 2013, Aetna informed her she could keep her plan until the end of the year, at which point the cost would rise dramatically. She's now uninsured, and said she would love to get her original plan back, and complained that costs of premiums are too high.
Acknowledging imperfections in the ACA, Courtney said, “I don't think we're in the paradise here.” He proposed using reinsurance, a reimbursement system that protects insurers from very high claims, according to healthcare.gov. It is a way to stabilize premiums, a mechanism that was removed in the previous Congress and which resulted in a spike in premiums, he said.
“We use reinsurance for flood insurance, which is another federal program. We use reinsurance for nuclear power ... so this is not some crazy idea,” Courtney added.
In Connecticut, one of only seven states with an all-Democratic congressional delegation, mostly supportive crowds have turned out at these town halls. In some red states, lawmakers have been confronted by angry constituents.
Several in the Norwich crowd Thursday expressed their hope that Democrats in Congress would do more to fight Republicans, and that they would like to see a better-executed Democratic strategy and messaging at the national level.
Christine Pattee, 75, of Coventry urged Courtney to put effort into stopping Trump when he can, and cooperating “in those very limited areas” of common interest, such as an infrastructure plan.
As a Quaker, she said, she won't agree with Courtney on nuclear submarines, but she does support “safe maintenance of equipment we have, especially the one operated by my nephew, a career submariner.”
She argued that money is better spent on maintaining roads and bridges, “rather than bringing back the Cold War weapons race to mutually assured destruction.”
Peter Storms of Waterford called for a serious conversation on the U.S. strategic goals in the Middle East, “and we should consider as one option investing our time and money in less chaotic places.”