Ralllies in defense of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are planned across the nation this Sunday, January 15th, with a goal of trying to make sure Congress does not repeal the ACA without having a carefully thought-out replacement plan ready to go.
Kevin Kane, organizing director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, says it's not just a one-day thing, but a process where the people must make their feelings clearly known to legislators.
"Whether on January 15th or beyond," he said. "We absolutely plan to participate and work with people all over the state. We've already been working with our members to set up action from Eau Claire to Milwaukee to Appleton, and we will be continuing to encourage more people to be involved."
Kane and others say many people directly impacted by repealing the ACA are not aware of the potential effects. Among those affected will be people with pre-existing medical conditions, people who purchase prescription drugs through Medicare, and anyone now insured through healthcare.gov.
According to Kane, the ACA has already benefited tens of thousands of Wisconsinites. "People who are on Medicare have benefited from the Affordable Care Act by having lower prescription drug costs and free preventive care," he explained. "People who have employer coverage have that assurance that if they ever left their job or got laid off they'd have somewhere to go, and it's also helped small businesses for coverage."
Kane says while Sunday's activities will help draw attention to the problem of repealing without having a viable replacement, people will have to stay vigilant to make sure that any form of replacement is viable. "We cannot assume that what's about to happen is going to be in the best interests of the public and not just for pharmaceutical corporations or insurance companies," Kane added. "We need to be encouraging and telling our elected members of Congress that we need to make sure that everyone has access to affordable care. You can't repeal something and replace it with nothing."
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