Protesters claim health care bill will increase mortality

May 10--BLOOMINGTON -- Lying on the ground while holding up signs -- some cut in the shape of tombstones -- that read "I pre-existed" and "Lack of affordable healthcare killed me," several Bloomington-Normal residents simulated on Tuesday evening what they think would happen if the Obamacare replacement bill becomes law.

"We are having a die-in today because our health care obviously is a serious life-or-death issue for many and our health care is under attack," event organizer Linda Unterman of Bloomington, representing Stand Up for Social Justice, told about 70 people participating in the rally and "die-in" in front of the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare) replacement bill -- the American Health Care Act (AHCA) -- passed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday with only Republican votes and now goes to the Senate.

Central Illinois' Republican congressmen -- Darin LaHood of Dunlap, Rodney Davis of Taylorville and Adam Kinzinger of Channahon -- defended their votes for the AHCA on Thursday, saying Obamacare resulted in skyrocketing premiums and rising deductibles. They said the AHCA would protect Americans with pre-existing conditions and allow young adults to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26.

But Unterman said the bill includes an amendment that allows states to apply for a waiver to charge higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions.

"We keep hearing the myth that pre-existing conditions are covered but if it's not affordable, it's not accessible," Unterman said to rally attendees, who held signs reading "LaHood + Davis Voted For Deadly Health Bill" and "RIP -- died due to complications from Trump Care."

Several passing motorists honked their horns in support.

Unterman, 69, told The Pantagraph after the event that the previous version of the bill would have resulted in an estimated 24 million Americans losing health care. "We don't know how many (would lose coverage under the bill that passed Thursday) because there was no Congressional Budget Office score before the bill was voted on," she said.

"I have M.S. (multiple sclerosis)," she said. Before the Affordable Care Act and the year before she went on Medicare, her private insurance cost her $60,000 with a $10,000 deductible "because I was in a high-risk pool," she said.

"I know high-risk pools and I know what insurance companies are going to do," she said.

Gail Stanek, 65, of Bloomington, wearing white makeup "to represent the ghosts of people to come," began to shed tears as she told The Pantagraph about heart disease and other pre-existing diseases in her family.

"My family won't be able to afford health care," Stanek said.

Elizabeth Kooba, 49, of Bloomington, dressed as the Grim Reaper with the word "Congress" safety-pinned to her black, hooded robe.

"They're spinning the AHCA as having all these layers to protect people with pre-existing conditions," Kooba said. But the $8 billion to cover everyone with pre-existing conditions isn't enough, she said.

"The ACA isn't perfect but we felt protected," Kooba said. "The AHCA is just giving tax breaks to the wealthy."

Among participants in the die-in were college students Amanda Breeden, 19, of Illinois Wesleyan University and Colleen Connelly, 19, of ISU.

"We think it's important to show up for our community, especially when a lot of people are under attack with the new health care bill," Connelly said.

"We're the only developed country without single-payer health care," Breeden said. "That's appalling to me. Health care is a human right."

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Follow Paul Swiech on Twitter: @pg_swiech

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