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A demonstration will be held this Saturday in Houghton to protest the “American Health Care Act.”
Organizers are calling it the Bergman/Trumpcare Die-In and are holding it at noon at Veterans Park.
They claim that 44,000 people will die every year due to lack of health insurance if the bill becomes law.
The event is being put on by the Houghton County Democratic Party, in partnership with Indivisible and Houghton/Keweenaw Forward Action Michigan.
Their goal is to hold Congressman Jack Bergman accountable for his support of the bill and to call for “Medicare-for-All’ Americans.
Organizers say they selected Veterans Park as the site for their protest because it’s the same place that a previous protest against the Affordable Care Act was held by Republicans.
The House of Representatives passed a partial repeal and replace of so-called “Obamacare” last week.
The bill is now under consideration by the Senate.
Here is the press released issued by the Houghton County Democratic Party:
Press Release
Bergman/Trumpcare Die-In
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Noon
Veterans Park, Houghton
Almost every American will be negatively affected by the “American Health Care Act” passed by the House of Representatives last week. More than 24 million Americans will lose their health insurance over the next 10 years. This includes over 40,000 residents of Congressman Jack Bergman’s 1st District of Michigan. It is estimated that upwards of 44,000 Americans will die every year from lack of health insurance. Guaranteed protection for persons with pre-existing conditions will end, resulting in no coverage or premiums that are unaffordable by many Americans. Older Americans will pay far more for health insurance and health care. The tax on high income taxpayers that extended the solvency of Medicare would be repealed, throwing the future of Medicare into doubt. Medicaid will no longer be a program for anyone who qualifies but, rather, will be a block grant to states who will have to ration care and cut the quality of services. Women will again have to pay more for health care than men. Special Education funds for schools would be cut. Lifetime caps on employer-provided health insurance could be reinstated. Funding that allows veterans to get medical care outside the VA system would be cut. The list goes on and on. If you are a person who will ever need health care, this law will make it more expensive and harder for you to get.
The only people who come out ahead under the AHCA are the wealthy and corporations. They will get over $600 billion in tax breaks while the rest of us pay more for health care or will be denied access to affordable health care. Bottom line is that the AHCA is nothing more than a tax break for the wealthy. This is the bill that Congressman Bergman – who is supposed to represent the constituents of the 1st District – voted for. He must now own it and all the adverse consequences that follow.
This bill now goes to the Senate but, unless the Senate adopts Medicare-for All, there isn’t much that the Senate can do to take the harm to Americans out of the AHCA. This is an immoral piece of legislation that must be defeated.
The Houghton County Democratic Party, in partnership with Indivisible and Houghton/Keweenaw Forward Action Michigan, is hosting a “Bergman/Trumpcare Die-In” to expose the AHCA for the harm it will do, to hold Congressman Bergman accountable to his constituents for the lives that will be lost, and to put the Senate on notice that the only way forward for the American people is Medicare-for-All. The “Bergman/Trumpcare Die-In” will be held on Saturday, May 13, 2017, at Noon, in Veteran’s Park in Houghton. This was the site of the Republican Party protest when the ACA was enacted, so it is appropriate that we gather at the same place to protest a Republican bill that now threatens to take health care from millions of Americans while giving a multi-billion dollar tax break to the wealthy.
