AUSTIN, Texas — A full house, hundreds challenging a new deal — the recent Republican proposal to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act.
“This is a tax bill masquerading as a health care bill,” said Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett.
Doggett and other local groups organized the town hall Sunday in downtown Austin to primarily discuss cuts to Medicaid.
“It’s a very troubling time, perhaps the most troubling time I’ve seen during the time I’ve been involved in public service, the actions of the president the danger to our national security and the willingness to kind of accept any health care bill whatever it might be,” Doggett said.
One personal story after another about the impact of Medicaid and what life without coverage could look like.
This is not how we take care of each other in Texas,” said Austin resident Diane Kearns.
Kearns relies on private health insurance from her employer and Medicaid to help her son Dean.
"I never thought that I would be a person that has worked every single day of their lives since they were 16 that I would need public assistance,” she said.
"There's a tendency to view Medicaid as something for poor people who are not trying to help themselves and it's a wasteful form of welfare,” Doggett said.
And maybe without realizing that, for many here, they say Medicaid is vital lifeline.
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