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More Than 2,000 Join Thompson, McGuire for Healthcare Town Hall

February 25, 2017

Santa Rosa, CA – Today, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) and CA Sen. Mike McGuire spoke with more than 1,000 attendees at a Healthcare Town Hall at Piner High School. As the President and Congressional Republicans move forward with their plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), constituents in Santa Rosa voiced their concerns and defended their right to access healthcare.

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More than 2,000 constituents filled the Piner High School gym to discuss the ACA

Watch the full town hall at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJH_T15JBV8

"More than 20 million Americans have gained health coverage since we passed the ACA—and many of them have made it clear they don't want to lose it," said Thompson. "Hearing from my constituents directly and sharing their stories with my colleagues back in Washington is a powerful tool to push back against the worst proposals. Gutting our healthcare system will have real impacts on real people. I want to thank Sen. McGuire and all the lawmakers who joined us for everything they're doing to protect healthcare in our state. We have a tough battle ahead of us, but I'm committed to fighting for the rights we all deserve."

"President Trump is wrong," said McGuire. "The Affordable Care Act is not failing, its very popular and working beyond expectations in California. We need to do whatever we can to save the ACA now – and then we need to take the next steps of exploration to fund a Single Payer system. We need to acknowledge that access to affordable care is a basic human right – and we cannot afford to continue down a path of haves and have nots when it comes to caring for our family, our friends, our neighbors. We are lucky to have great representatives in Congress who are working to make this happen."

On Friday, a draft of the Republican proposal to repeal the ACA was leaked to Politico. It would cause premiums to rise—especially for seniors—and would likely result in a loss of coverage for millions.

Other lawmakers at the meeting included: CA Sens. Ed Hernandez and Bill Dodd and CA Assemblymembers Jim Wood, Marc Levine, and Cecilia Aguiar-Curry. Hernandez and Wood chair the Health Committees in their respective chambers.

Expert panelists included:

  • Deborah Kelch Executive Director, Insure the Uninsured Project
  • Mary Szecsey, Executive Director, West County Health Centers
  • Chris Manson, Regonal Director, St Joseph Health, Northern California
  • Connie Barker, a homecare worker who will tell her ACA story
  • Dr. Nina Weiler-Harwell, AARP California Associate State Director

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Issues:Health Care