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Bloomington Rally Opposes Obamacare Repeal

Jon Norton
/
WGLT

As many as 70 people rallied on the lawn of the BCPA Tuesday evening against Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.  Speakers including announced 13th District Democratic Congressional candidate David Gill and last fall's 18th District Democratic candidate Junius Rodriguez decried the proposed GOP alternative.

 

Bloomington ophthalmologist Catharine Crockett also spoke.  She said since the inception of the ACA, she has treated many more poor and indigent people than before 2009.  She thinks Republican arguments touting their alternative as a way to reduce the deficit misses a key point.

"If the deficit decreases but all these people are sick and dying, it's not really the American way, is it?" said Crockett.

She's also concerned about the Republican proposal to send federal money to the states in the form of block grants to use for Medicaid.  She said first off, the states may use the money for other purposes.  But she also expressed concern the money would not be enough to cover a large health care crises.

Credit Jon Norton / WGLT
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WGLT
Julie Riffle of Bloomington holding a sign at the protest March 14.

"All these people get thrown onto the public aid roles, and you have a set amount (of money) that never changes, all of a sudden you have no money to take care of people.  And the CBO pretty much showed that to be true," said Crockett.

Diane Mather of Bloomington also attended the rally sponsored by "Stand Up For Social Justice BloNo."  She acknowledges ObamaCare has problems, but said they are fixable, and would be better than repeal.

"What they're planning to replace it with is a plan that would throw all these poor people off.  I'm really concerned about that.  People die when they don't have health insurance," said Mather.

She went on to say thousands of people were saved because of Obamacare, and worries these people will now fall through the cracks should the Affordable Care Act be replaced by the current Republican alternative.

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Jon Norton is the program director at WGLT and WCBU. He also is host of All Things Considered every weekday.
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