Rep. Graves’ tele-town hall draws thousands

As many as 8,000 Northwest Georgians at a time were connected to a conference call Wednesday night for a tele-town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger.

The hour-long session included three spot-polls — on Obamacare, the border wall and tax reform — and Graves was able to answer questions from 12 callers. Listeners had the option to stay on the line after the town hall ended to record their questions for a response from his staff.

The congressman said he plans to hold a series of tele-town halls through the year.

“This is a great way to connect … ( and) there will be many updates,” Graves said. “We’re just in the first two months of a new government.”

Several of the callers focused on healthcare, with some complaining about the rising cost of premiums and deductibles under Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act. A woman identified as Maggie in Rome asked about maintaining coverage for pre-existing conditions in President Don- ald Trump’s plan to repeal and replace the ACA.

Graves said there’s bipartisan agreement that coverage for pre-existing conditions should be “part of any plan.” But he also talked about a “free market” solution that lets insurance companies offer a range of options.

“You open the markets back up and allow customization to occur and families to shop,” he said.

The ACA spot-poll had 60 percent of the listeners pressing “2” to say they prefer repealing and replacing the law. Another 2 0 percent picked the first choice, to repeal it entirely, and 20 percent chose the third: “Keep it the way it is right now.”

Graves also promised construction of the wall along the U. S. border with Mexico. In that poll, 51 percent said build it no matter the cost; 24 percent said build it if it’s affordable; and 25 percent said don’t build it.

“There are a lot of terrain challenges. This is going to be a long planning process,” he said. “But one thing we have in the White House is a builder.”