Letter: Attack on Obamacare an attack on the poor

You can see Speaker of the House Paul Ryan happily counting the days and minutes until Republicans can finally repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Without a replacement (and none has been put forth), the entire healthcare industry will be thrown into chaos, not to mention the millions of Americans who depend on the act as their only health insurance option.

It seems like Republicans just hate poor people. They are constantly figuring out ways to make them suffer.

Have you ever seen a woman die of breast cancer six weeks after diagnosis? I have. She had no health insurance and never had a mammogram, which could have found the cancer. Before the act, the only healthcare many people received was in the emergency rooms of their local hospitals. I have been in emergency rooms with mothers and their small children who had colds and earaches but no insurance and no money for a doctor’s care.

The only reason for this assault on the health of Americans is that Republicans must want more people to die sooner, or their families and children to fear getting sick. Or, throw all of them into the “free market” where they can have lots of “choices.” Sure. Change Medicaid funding into a block grant for the states (and cut the amount allocated) so they can use the money for anything but healthcare.

This is not America. It is a race to the bottom on a level with Third World countries.

This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Letter: Attack on Obamacare an attack on the poor."