Duke City hosts rally for Obamacare supporters

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act rallied in Albuquerque Civic Plaza on Wednesday calling on Republicans in Congress to find bipartisan ways to retain benefits the law has provided.

The rally in Albuquerque was part of a two-month bus tour organized by a coalition of health care and advocacy groups that began in Washington, D.C., in mid-January and has visited more than two dozen cities nationwide.

Its purpose is to give residents in each city the opportunity to share stories of how the law passed under the Obama administration has helped them and how they could be harmed if it is repealed. The nonpartisan Urban Institute has estimated that up

to 30 million people nationwide could lose health care coverage if the law is repealed without being replaced.

Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who sent a representative to the rally, estimated 300,000 New Mexicans gained coverage under the law and the associated expansion of Medicaid.

“We are sending a message to Republican lawmakers asking them not to take our health care away,” said Lorie MacIver, district president of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees.

Albuquerque small-business owner Alexis Kaminsky was among several people who spoke to the crowd of about 35. She said she had a pre-existing health condition that made it “incredibly expensive” to get coverage before the law passed. She fears she would either be denied coverage or face skyrocketing premiums without the law’s provisions.

The law prevented insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. It removed lifetime caps on the amount insurance providers would pay out and allowed parents to continue providing coverage for their children until age 26. New Mexico was also one of the states that expanded Medicaid coverage under provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, also New Mexico Democrats, sent representatives who spoke at the rally.

Congressional Republicans have floated various plans to replace it, but discussions are still ongoing.

JIM THOMPSON/JOURNAL Kathleen Chavez, second from left, a self-employed single mother who obtained insurance coverage through the Medicaid expansion, was one of those who spoke at the “Save My Care” bus tour rally in Albuquerque on Wednesday. With her is her son Walter...