Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) wasn't expecting what he got when he held a town hall meeting this week. Instead of being cheered for his votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, he was greeted by angry constituents, including this mom, who is grieving the death of her uninsured son. I can completely relate to her grief and anger.
Via Citizen-Times.com, one example of what he heard:
Thirty people swiftly moved into lines on either side of a packed ArtSpace Charter School auditorium to ask questions of their new congressman — some of them pointed and many of them about Obamacare.
They all wanted direct answers from the congressman Wednesday evening, and many of them, including Skip Edwards, questioned the Republican’s position on the Affordable Care Act.
Edwards and his wife, both 63, had health insurance until he lost his job during the recession and the East Asheville couple found themselves in financial trouble despite staying relatively healthy.
Both had pre-existing conditions and were denied insurance, making them eligible for a state plan called Inclusive Health.
“It cost us $1,300 bucks a month — extremely expensive,” Edwards said. “It taps us out every month. But at our age and health, we’ve got to have it.”
McHenry, being one of those twerpy types who thinks high risk pools are all that in a state that offers absolutely no help to anyone, including the poor, gave the usual GOP talking points about extending high-risk pools and selling insurance across state lines. That proves Rep. McHenry has no clue of what is actually in the Affordable Care Act. If he did, he'd know there are some of his pet provisions in the law. No, here's his excuse for the repeated votes:
McHenry, 37, has repeatedly voted against the Affordable Care Act, choosing to either defund, repeal or delay it. In defending his position, he said he did agree with some aspects of the act, including ending discrimination against pre-existing conditions and extending the age a children can stay on their parents' health insurance.
And of course, there is this grieving mother in the video, who rightly believes her son would be alive today if he had had access to health care.
