Republican Rep. Brian Mast gets blasted on health care at Stuart town hall

June 06--If Brian Mast wants to get re-elected to Congress, he'd better be on the right side of health care reform.

That was the resounding message from a left-leaning crowd of more than 400 people who attended the Palm City Republican's heated town hall Monday night.

Among the calmest, yet most potent, criticisms of Mast's vote in favor of the Republican health care proposal came from Janice Drake, a 65-year-old mother of three from Tequesta. She detailed the suffering and financial cost her 29-year-old son, David, endures related to his leukemia. Without insurance, she said she couldn't afford treatments, even if she works harder.

"I've been a nurse for 46 years," she said. "I'll get a second job."

Drake appealed to Mast as a parent -- he also has three children -- and asked him to consider if his son, to whom she referred by name, was in David's position.

"It's not politics, it's people," Drake said.

More: U.S. Rep. Brian Mast: GOP health care overhaul a 'good bill'

Heated debate

After her speech, some people shouted at Mast, decrying his vote for the House version of the American Health Care Act and saying he didn't care about the lives of those who would lose their health care.

"Ma'am, if I didn't care about you, I wouldn't have offered my life on the battlefield," said Mast, an Army veteran who lost both legs in Afghanistan.

Mast's vote has drawn criticism since before his first in-person town hall in Fort Pierce in February. But the revamped proposal, and the Congressional Budget Office projection that it would leave 23 million uninsured in the next decade, has added fuel to the fire.

Pete Gentner, 65, was 64 when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had insurance, and now he has Medicare, to help pay $5,000 to $10,000 a month in bills. He said he worries changes to health care would bankrupt someone who falls through the cracks.

"If I was a year younger and I didn't have medical care, what would I do?" Gentner asked during the town hall.

More: Testy crowd greets U.S. Rep. Brian Mast in Fort Pierce -- Videos, photos

Red and green cards

Congressmen often hold town halls after election. In past years, these events received little attention. But this year, left-wing groups have attended Republican town halls to protest and pressure their elected officials into resisting Trump and his agenda.

IndivisibleMartin, a local chapter of a national movement, was the most visible at the Kane Center in Stuart on Monday night. About 15 of them wore T-shirts bearing the name of the organization. They also provided red and green cards for the audience to hold up to express their agreement or disagreement with Mast's remarks.

A woman of unknown affiliation handed out only green cards as people filed into the event. Mast and Chief of Staff Steve Leighton said their office had nothing to do with that.

"The last thing I think about is where somebody gets red and green cards," Mast said.

More: Analysis: Democrats bet health care bill will help them oust U.S. Rep. Brian Mast

Voices

IndivisibleMartin members also circulated a memo suggestion questions to ask and how to ask them.

Mast had prepared. When a man asked a question from the list, Mast commented on how that same question was on the IndivisibleMartin's website.

Mast and IndivisibleMartin have clashed since his election, with the congressman accusing the group of attacking him unfairly.

Paula Albright, one of the co-leaders, said the group focuses on him because he is one of their few lifelines to Washington, D.C.

"I don't see him as a go-to guy, but I do see him as a voice," Albright said.

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