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SCRANTON — Supporters of the current health care system came to the Jewish Community Center in Scranton on the eve of a crucial vote on the Republican-backed American Health Care Act.
The NEPA Healthcare Defenders Coalition sponsored a Healthcare Town Hall on Thursday to “educate” the nearly 100 people on the differences between former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and the AHCA currently being debated.
Congress announced a vote, originally scheduled for Thursday evening, would come Friday instead. Marlee Stefanelli and Laura Keller, both of Action Together NEPA, were excited the vote was delayed.
“It’s going to give people more time to contact their representatives,” said Stefanelli, of Clarks Summit.
In attendance at the town hall was Dr. Karen Murphy, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health, a staunch advocate of what’s commonly known as Obamacare.
“Those uninsured (in Pennsylvania) is at a historic low,” Murphy said. Before Obamacare, nearly 10.4 percent of Pennsylvanians were uninsured. Now, only 6.4 percent of people are uninsured, she said. The secretary is concerned with the amount of residents who will be left without insurance if the new proposal becomes law.
Without insurance coverage, Murphy said, people “wait until the disease gets worse.” She’s afraid they will go to the emergency room instead of a primary care doctor because hospitals can’t turn down a patient, insured or uninsured.
Murphy said Obamacare took two years to implement, which was plenty of time to iron out issues. But if the AHCA is rushed into place, “we don’t know” what kind of impact it would have on the system.
“We’re here to ask Pennsylvanians to be keenly aware … and pay attention,” Murphy said.
Congressman Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, were scheduled to attend. But due to the delay with voting on the bill, they were stuck in Washington, D.C., Stefanelli said.
Cartwright sent staffer Bob Morgan with a statement, confirming he was voting against the AHCA.
Ella Rayburn, of Scranton, has insurance through her work, so she “doesn’t have a dog in the fight,” but came out to support those who aren’t as lucky as she is.
“We all need to understand the insurance pool,” Rayburn said, noting insurance policies of all kinds — fire, car, health — are “complicated.”
Cartwright’s statement said he wanted to work to make the current system “better and stronger” for the people it serves, something Rayburn agrees with.
“I’m for improving,” she said. “It does need to be tweaked.”
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