SEATTLE — Rep. Suzan DelBene held a roundtable with citizens on the front lines in the debate over the Affordable Care Act.
This came as President Trump refused to defend former President Barack Obama's health care law from a lawsuit that would overturn the requirement that insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions.
Claire Simmons lives with diabetes. She'll soon be too old to stay on her parents' insurance and fears the cost if insurance companies no longer must cover pre-existing conditions.
“Even with my parents' insurance, a bottle of insulin this big costs $100 a month and I need three of those per month,” she said.
Adana Protonentis fears the loss of insurance coverage for her son, Langston who is 7.
Langston has progressive autism and is thriving but, without insurance, his care would cost his family $33,000 a year.
“The thing that keeps me up at night is the idea that it could all go away because it's all dependent on my husband having this job with really great insurance. What if we lose that?” Protonentis said.
Last year, President Trump lost his bid to repeal the ACA, outright, but promised improvements by ending requirements such as pre-existing conditions.
“Increase competition, increase choice and increase access to lower-priced high-quality health care options. And they will have so many options,” Trump said.
Chris Griffiths still faces expensive treatments in the wake of cancer, and she's also caring for a husband who is suffering from dementia.
“My fears are that we are going to go back to what it was before ACA, when insurance companies could drop you without notices just because you got a diagnosis, or they could raise your rates because you have pre-existing conditions.”
DelBene said citizens must fight to save the insurance they need.
“We should not let anything get in the way of making sure we're providing access to affordable quality health care to every American,” she said.
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Cox Media Group
