Lawmakers Share Human Cost Of Repealing Obamacare

Hartford Courant (CT)

Jan. 10--If the Affordable Care Act is repealed and she loses her insurance, Linda Yannone, a cancer survivor from Sherman, doesn't know how she'll be able to continue working as a substitute teacher.

Colleen Brunetti of West Hartford is worried how she'll be able to pay for the $250,000 a year in medication she needs to treat her pulmonary hypertension. And Gaye Hyre of West Haven is worried about the costs associated with a recurrence of breast cancer if she doesn't have insurance.

"I will lose my home and/or I will die," Hyre said Monday at a news conference at the Legislative Office Building. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, brought the three women and others to Hartford to put a face on the health care debate brewing in Washington.

Votes are expected this week to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the sweeping 2010 health care law known better as Obamacare, a law that President-elect Donald Trump promised to do away with during his campaign. Republicans have the votes in the House to repeal Obamacare -- a vote that has succeeded many times in the past -- but the repeal effort faces a tougher battle in the Senate.

Still, Blumenthal and Esty criticized Republicans for moving forward with plans to repeal without a concrete plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.

"Repeal and replace has been the mantra," Esty said. "It's now time for them to come forward with actual plans. And the notion that they can get away with repeal and nothing. And then wait, and wait, and wait and let folks ... just figure it out in the interim until the wheels of politics grind sufficiently enough that they feel the heat is irresponsible and it's wrong."

On CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said a replacement would be coming "soon." And that Republicans would be moving "very quickly" to replace the law.

In interviews after the election, Trump said people would not lose coverage when the law was repealed and indicated he was in favor of keeping two popular provisions -- one that requires insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions and another that lets children stay on their parents' health care plans until they turn 26. But those words, absent information about a replacement plan, are of little comfort to someone like Yannone.

"The thought of not having health care again, to not being treated for my chronic illnesses ... is a horrible and frightening thing," said Yannone, who is in her 50s. "I love the work that I do. I love working with the children, inspiring them, caring for them, loving them, from pre-K to 12th grade. It has been a blessing, but ... they do not provide health care for substitute teachers. And it's very hard to get a job when you're my age. I've tried a lot."

In a letter to the No. 2 Republican in Congress last week, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said it would be "simply irresponsible" to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a suitable alternative.

"By repealing the ACA without an alternative in place, you will effectively destroy the current marketplace and deny Americans access to quality, affordable and comprehensive health insurance," he wrote to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade wrote to McCarthy that since 2011, Connecticut's uninsured rate has gone from 8 percent to a historic low of 3 percent. About 110,000 residents have gotten coverage through the state's health care exchange and the expansion of Medicaid has provided coverage to more than 200,000 Connecticut residents.

"Rather than repeal the law, Congress should improve it," she wrote. "There are three areas that we can focus on to improve going forward -- market stability, the regulatory environment and state flexibility, and cost containment."

Both letters were responding to a request from congressional Republicans to state leaders for input about health care reform.

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