Southern California Democrats slam ‘repeal and replace’ in Obamacare defense

Jan. 17--Hoping to mobilize a groundswell of support to save the Affordable Care Act from repeal, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi joined her Southern California congressional colleagues Monday to urge doctors, nurses, hospital officials and patients to step up and fight for the health care law.

Her appeal was made during a gathering inside downtown Los Angeles' California Endowment, a nonprofit organization that works to link people with health care. It also came on the day when the nation observed the 88th birthday and work of civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

King once said: "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."

Using King's words as their backdrop, U.S. representatives from across Southern California, including Lucille Roybal-Allard, Maxine Waters, Mark Takano and Nanette Barragan, among others, joined Pelosi as she hammered away at Republican efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act at a time when 20 million previously uninsured Americans were able to sign up for health insurance. She said repeal would weaken both Medicare and Medicaid, harm children and senior citizens, and place those with pre-existing medical conditions in danger of losing insurance coverage. Her warnings came just days before Friday's inauguration of Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who has said one of his priorities as president would be to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

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"We want to improve what we have now, not fight for survival," Pelosi said. "I want people to understand the urgency. We all have to take the opportunity to hit the streets and do whatever it is."

Signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010 and dubbed Obamacare, the main provision under the Affordable Care Act is that all Americans must be covered under a health insurance plan or be penalized at tax time. The law also prohibits insurance companies from turning away customers for pre-existing medical conditions.

But Republicans have long sought to repeal it, saying it forced premiums to rise, was unfair to the middle class, and forced people into coverage they didn't want or need.

Last week, both the Senate and House took the first steps toward dismantling Obamacare by adopting a measure to make it easier to repeal. But missing from their efforts so far is a plan to replace it. Trump said recently he is close to completing a plan to replace Obamacare, with the goal of "insurance for everybody." But the details of his "repeal and replace" plan remain unclear.

Americans are also unclear about what they want.

A survey conducted last month by Kaiser Health Foundation found that of 1,204 adults from across the nation, 49 percent think the next Congress should vote to repeal the law compared with 47 percent who say they should not vote to repeal it.

"Repeal and replace," Pelosi said. "It's alliterative but it's not realistic because we haven't seen yet what they want to do."

Pelosi added that whatever plan supersedes Obamacare, she hopes there are no decreases in the number of people with insurance, increases in cost or loss of benefits.

California would have most to lose, some said.

An estimated 5 million people in the Golden State would lose coverage, said Louise McCarthy, president of the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles.

"Lives are at stake. Jobs are at stake and our economy is at stake, and it's all balancing on the expansion the Affordable Care Act made," she said.

In Los Angeles County, where 1.5 million people gained health insurance through the state exchange known as Covered California, at least 63,000 jobs would be lost in the health care field, McCarthy said.

While California would lose $23 billion out of its budget, Los Angeles would see a decrease of a $5.8 billion drop in its gross domestic product.

"Lives, jobs and the economy all hang in the balance," McCarthy added.

Members of Southern California's Democratic congressional delegation promised to fight for the survival of Obamacare, saying they have heard many stories from their constituents about how much the Affordable Care Act has helped them.

Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, said in a telephone interview following Monday's media conference that moves by Republicans toward repealing the Affordable Care Act give that party an obligation to devise a credible replacement.

To do otherwise, Lowenthal said, would result in havoc.

"They have to come up with a plan that at least provides insurance or coverage to the same number of people," Lowenthal said.

"It cannot cost the users of health care any more than is being charged today," Lowenthal also said.

"Orange County is firmly supportive of the Affordable Care Act," said U.S. Rep. J. Luis Correa, whose district stretches from Anaheim to Santa Ana.

In Orange County, about 232,000 people are covered through expanded Medi-Cal, according to recent data from CalOptima, the county's Medi-Cal provider. Roughly 142,000 residents are enrolled in health plans sold by Covered California, with 88 percent receiving a subsidy, according to the state exchange.

"I myself have witnessed the benefits to our communities," he added. "We can't go back folks. We've got to move forward."

More than 250,000 people in both Riverside and San Bernardino counties could reportedly lose coverage with a repeal.

Ventura County resident Maryann Hammers called the Affordable Care Act her lifeline and said she was terrified at the thought of losing coverage.

"About three years ago, I was the world's healthiest person," 61-year-old Hammers said. "Then came the diagnosis: ovarian cancer."

The tumor was the size of a watermelon, which led to surgeries, chemotherapy, complications, hospital stays, and side effects, she said.

"I lost all my hair, much of my income, most of my white blood cells and a fair amount of my dignity," Hammers told the crowd. "Having cancer is hard, it's scary, it's sad and stressful. But there was one thing I didn't have to stress about and that is health insurance."

Luckily, she added, she had medical coverage through Covered California.

"It provided better coverage at a low cost than anything I was previously able to get," she noted. "Here I am now, on the other side."

Doug Lunn, a self-employed musician from Santa Monica, said he has been living with prostate and pancreatic cancer for two years. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, he can manage his illnesses. He said the public should understand that repealing the act would have a ripple effect on families of those who are ill.

"It affects all the people you are connected to," the 62-year-old man said.

Pelosi said that despite the odds, Democrats plan to work on keeping all the provisions of Obamacare intact.

"It's a very strong institution," she said, before riffing on Trump's "Make American Great Again" slogan: Republicans want to "make Americans sick again."

"I feel confident we're going to protect it," Pelosi said. "It's a fight we're prepared to make."

Staff writers Courtney Perkes and Andrew Edwards contributed to this report.

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