Dave Tucker: Force Jeff Denham to tell us why he wants to cancel healthcare for thousands

It’s time to hold our representative’s feet to the fire. The Congress voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act without any replacement. Rep. Denham’s was one of those votes and he needs to tell us why. And when he tells us the GOP is working on a replacement, we need to question his answer – because it won’t coincide with the voices heard at the recent GOP retreat.

Those voices indicate GOP lawmakers are far from having a consensus for any replacement. Our lawmakers, including Rep. Denham, had six years to come up with a replacement but they haven’t. Does Rep. Denham really believe “vouchers” will result in better outcomes? Private industry’s goal is profit. Companies are beholden to stockholders, no one else. Do you really think “health savings plan” will benefit anyone other than the banks?

The healthcare industry was in poor shape before Obama came to office. Medicare for all was the obvious answer, but was unacceptable to a Congress bought by Big Pharma/Insurance and committed to making sure Obama failed at whatever he attempted. As a compromise, ACA provided care to millions who never had health care before. Write to Denham. Attend his town halls. Don’t accept inadequate responses or alternate facts.

Editor’s note: The Affordable Care Act passed in 2009 when Democrats controlled both the House and Senate.

This story was originally published January 30, 2017 at 12:57 PM with the headline "Dave Tucker: Force Jeff Denham to tell us why he wants to cancel healthcare for thousands."