The GOP is gearing up for this week’s U.S. House of Representatives vote on repealing the health-care bill — and the time for us to take a stand is now. We need to be clear about what Republicans are trying to do: take away health care from 32 million uninsured Americans who have no other lifeline. These folks — our family, friends, neighbors, loved ones — need us to advocate for them, to speak out strongly and compassionately.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the Republicans have grievously misled the public about health-care reform from day one, and it is time to get real about the consequences of a repeal: families going into debt from medical costs they cannot afford, women losing coverage for life-saving mammograms and critical maternity care, seniors having to choose between their medication and buying food and $230 billion added to the deficit over 10 years.
This is why I am saying we simply cannot turn our backs on our fellow Americans and the future of this country by allowing a repeal of health care.
What would this repeal mean? It would be a gigantic step backward — a disastrous move for our fellow citizens and the direction of our nation. We must talk about the devastating results of losing health-care reform:
1. Women would be unable to get preventative services that save lives because their gender is a pre-existing condition.
2. With over 9 percent unemployment, young people who cannot afford skyrocketing premiums would be kicked off their parents’ plans.
3. Seniors, some of our most vulnerable citizens, could lose essential prescription coverage that their lives depend on.
We cannot sit idly by while Boehner and the GOP try to roll back reforms that dramatically improve the lives and well-being of millions of Americans. This touches all of us. Adequate, affordable health care cannot be the luxury for a precious few in this country — every single one of us needs and deserves it.
I would urge everyone reading this to call their congressional representative and demand that they vote against the GOP bill. This is not the time to backslide on health care for our family, friends, loved ones and neighbors.
David M. Quintana
Ozone Park
