ACA dominates Blackburn town hall
James Burks taught school for 42 years, and lost much of his right arm due to a treatable but incurable form of cancer. He drew perhaps the most rousing applause from about 130 residents on Tuesday inside at a town hall in Fairview hosted by U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn.
The applause wasn’t for his question. It came when he gave a piece of advice to the eight-term Republican from Brentwood.
“Understand that, please, the things going on in America today are not Democrat or Republican things,” he said. “(What you’re doing,) you’re doing it for the good of the people, not anyone on any side of the aisle.”
Burks, who says he split his vote in November between Democrats and Republicans, told Blackburn to “be careful” with school vouchers, health care and other key issues facing the Republican-led Congress and a White House facing intense criticism.
Blackburn’s town hall in this normally quiet rural Williamson County town was one of several across the nation in recent days and weeks that have been tense at times and combative at others.
When one woman asked questions about Planned Parenthood, Blackburn continued her longtime pledge to prevent taxpayer money from going to the women’s health organization that conservatives criticize for assisting with abortions. Renee Armand was one of several to shout “shame on you” and “lies” during the answer.
“I think she’s incapable of answering a question,” said Armand, who has owned a farm in rural Williamson County for 30 years. “She treated us with enormous disrespect and condescension.”
But questions over the possible repeal The Commercial Appeal Wednesday, February 22, 2017 and replacement of the Affordable Care Act dominated the questions from the audience inside Fairview City Hall.
Elizabeth Wanczak and Rusty Gordon were the first two people into the small chamber Tuesday. They wanted answers on the ACA.
Wanczak has health insurance through the ACA, and said she wouldn’t have been able to have her daughter if not for the insurance she found through the federally run health insurance exchange. She came to learn about maternity coverage included in any replacement plan pledged by congressional Republicans.
“If not for ACA, we wouldn’t have insurance,” she said.
Gordon said Republican attitudes toward the ACA after the election of President Donald Trump have been “flippant.”
“They’ve done nothing for the last six years but try and sabotage the ACA,” he said. He said he hoped Blackburn delivered something other than “the same old company line.”
Many of the questions were without clear answers from Blackburn, who served on Trump’s transition team and is carrying key legislation that will be a part of the repeal effort from the GOPled House. She said the replacement will include provisions allowing people of certain age groups with pre-existing conditions to get insurance.
She said the replacement plan will be “more responsive and more affordable” as well, without going into many specifics.
Access to health insurance is a particularly acute issue in Tennessee.
Humana decided last week to leave the federally run healthcare.gov exchange, leaving the Tri-Cities area as the only region in Tennessee that has two insurers from which residents can choose in 2018. The Greater Knoxville area will have none.