Rallies’ aim is to keep ACA
Jackson Lee hosts event here in support of Obamacare
Standing between several bright posters, Marylyn Harris used an index finger to type a phone number for the U.S. House of Representatives into her smartphone Sunday. The Houstonbased registered nurse said she plans to call to ask elected officials to keep in place the Affordable Care Act.
The law, Harris said, helped her patients afford mental health care — and helped her pay for surgery that would have cost thousands of dollars.
“The economic status in this country is tied to health,” she said. “Let’s get out there, let’s make the calls.”
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, hosted the rally Sunday in the Mickey Leland Building, promising a crowd of about 200 attendees that she will keep fighting to preserve the Affordable Care Act — days after D.C. lawmakers took the first steps to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.
Her event was among several planned by leftleaning lawmakers on Sunday in cities including Boston and Tampa, Fla. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Tim Kaine, the former vice-presidential candidate, headlined two rallies, which were titled “Our First Stand.”
“Don’t be fearful of being isolated, castigated, rejected, called divisive if you are doing it out of the conscience of helping those who cannot help themselves,” Jackson Lee said.
Labor leaders, physicians and Houston residents with emotional personal stories spoke alongside the congresswoman. Supporters cheered and listened as they clustered around the U.S. and Texas flags.
Republicans characterize the law as expensive and ineffective and have taken steps to roll it
back. The House and Senate last week voted to approve plans for a budget that would stop funding for the law, and Presidentelect Donald Trump has said he believes the “‘Unaffordable’ Care Act” law should be repealed and replaced.
Americans are split. A recent poll from the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation found that one-fifth of respondents want an immediate repeal without a replacement plan in place. But nearly 30 percent said lawmakers should wait to strike down the law until they find a replacement plan, and 47 percent said lawmakers should not vote to repeal the law.
“Cheap plans” supported by Republican lawmakers “will run (citizens) right to their graves,” said Jackson Lee, who added after the event that she has not yet decided whether she will attend Trump’s inauguration on Friday. Twenty-four lawmakers have said they won’t attend the ceremony, NBC reported Sunday.
Jackson Lee, who is serving her 10th term in the House, said she was not totally discouraged from last week’s votes, adding that Republican senators may be persuaded to keep some measures of the law.
The rally followed a listening session last weekend in which citizens including 23-year-old Rony Escobar of Houston spoke to Jackson Lee about how the Affordable Care Act affected their lives.
Diagnosed with several illnesses in his childhood, Escobar said he saved several thousand dollars a month from lower costs from prescriptions and specialist visits after the Affordable Care Act was made law.
“We’re fighting for our future,” he said to applause.