No one’s heard much of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) since it passed the House in May, and it’s not an accident. Unpopular from the moment it was introduced, the Senate bill has been surrounded by an intentional secrecy, and local activists have taken notice.
If enacted, the AHCA would cut Medicaid (affecting 700,000 Ohioans) to grant tax breaks for the wealthy, eliminate attainable coverage for pre-existing conditions, remove the guarantee of coverage for 10 essential health benefits established under Obamacare, and kick millions off of insurance entirely. As of May 11, it had a 21 percent approval rating. Yet, as the Senate looks forward to a vote, they’ve held no public hearings and heard no expert advice. Using Senate Rule XIV, they’re able to bypass the referral of the bill to a Senate committee, and have it placed directly on the Senate Calendar of Business.
This week, activists from several local progressive groups gathered in protest outside the office of Sen. Rob Portman, one of the bill’s co-drafters.
“We keep calling. We keep protesting. We write. We’re going to D.C.,” said Meryl Neiman with Indivisible, District 3. “We have been stymied and refused any sort of meeting, let alone a public town hall by Senator Portman. So, he has been able to avoid answering some of these questions in any public setting in front of a camera, a cell phone, anything. And so he gives out very parsed answers on very focused issues.”
To force a meeting, the protesters are heading to Washington D.C. next week. They’ll bring with them 1,400 answered surveys from people representing hundreds of Ohio zip codes. The surveys cover the priorities of Ohioans when it comes to healthcare, and the concerns they have with the AHCA as it stands.
Neiman referenced the process behind passing the Affordable Care Act in 2010. It went through a committee, and Republicans had the opportunity to offer amendments and changes to the language, some of which were included in the final version. Now, “not only is it being handled without committee, it’s being done entirely in secret, so only certain drafters of the bill have seen the language or are privy to the language. Even other Senate Republicans have not seen it, let alone any Democrats, any constituents, any policy experts.”
The rally was attended by activists from Indivisible, Working America and the Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio. Their demand for Portman is to remove himself from the process until it can be considered by other Senators, policy experts and constituents. The group will be heading out from Columbus next Tuesday, June 20.