Republican who helped pass health bill faces angry voters

WILLINGBORO, N.J. (AP) — A Republican who played a key role in helping the GOP-led U.S. House pass an Affordable Care Act replacement bill faced angry voters at a town hall Wednesday, with charged questions about health care and President Donald Trump.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside Rep. Tom MacArthur's event in heavily Democratic Willingboro, some lying on the ground with tombstones during a die-in. He faced criticism from residents inside the event, which came as Democrats target him ahead of 2018 midterm elections.

One member of the audience called out "shame" when MacArthur began discussing his daughter Gracie, who was born with special needs and died at age 11 in 1996. MacArthur responded "shame on you."

MacArthur said he came to the Democratic part of the district for his first town hall since the health care bill passed because he wants to represent both sides and he's aware of the "anxiety" over health care.

Heckles erupted when MacArthur said he's "watching an insurance market that is collapsing," which was followed by a shout of "because you drilled holes in it" from a member of the crowd. That set off chants of "single payer, single payer," referring to government-funded health care.

"I'm not going to fight with you. I'm not going to talk over you," MacArthur said. "You have to decide whether you're going to respect one another."

He also faced angry questions about Trump, with one person asking him how long he was "going to defend this American nightmare."

"I didn't come here to defend the president," said MacArthur, who added that he thinks the House and Senate should continue investigating Russian interference in last year's election before he reaches any conclusions.

MacArthur joined Trump and other Republican congressmen in the Rose Garden at the White House last week to celebrate after the health overhaul bill passed. He said then he was proud to "stand with a president" who was handling health care differently than Democratic President Barack Obama.

MacArthur was one of only two Republicans among five from the state to back the House legislation, which would dismantle Obama's signature law, sometimes called Obamacare. The Republican-led Senate is expected to author its own version.

He helped the measure gain support from conservative colleagues by authoring an amendment that would allow states to get federal waivers to the requirement that insurers charge healthy and sick customers the same premiums. The change would be for people who let their coverage lapse.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that under initial versions of the House bill 24 million fewer people would have health insurance by 2026. The bill that was narrowly passed by the House this month hadn't received a CBO score.

Among other changes in the bill are the elimination of tax penalties under Obama's law. The bill also erases tax increases in the Affordable Care Act on higher-earning people and the health industry. It cuts the Medicaid program for low-income people and lets states impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.

New Jersey was among dozens of states that opted to expand Medicaid under the ACA. Republican Gov. Chris Christie's administration estimates 500,000 residents have gained coverage under the expansion, which he has touted as part of his efforts to fight the state's opioid addiction epidemic.

New Jersey has 288,000 people in the ACA's individual marketplace, federal data show.

MacArthur has been under pressure from his political opponents in the southern New Jersey district not to strip away the ACA's benefits. Liberal-leaning groups, like New Jersey Citizen Action, have been organizing weekly anti-repeal protests at his district office.

Vicky VanWright, a 69-year-old retired second-grade teacher from Willingboro, is a registered Democrat and said she had never attended a town hall. She said the debate over health care and concern over the repeal of the Affordable Care Act motivated her to come out Wednesday.

"As far as health care, it should be for everyone," she said. "I think it should be universal coverage."

The town went heavily for Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump in the presidential election, by about 14,000 to 1,300 votes. MacArthur fared slightly better in the town.

Contact Catalini at https://www.twitter.com/mikecatalini

Associated Press writer Steve Peoples contributed to this report.