Rep. Pat Meehan has heard you.
The Delaware County congressman was the target of more than 150 protesters Sunday who took to the streets outside his district office in Springfield to voice their displeasure with his vote in the House to start the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act.
Yesterday Meehan, R-7, of Chadds Ford, was doing an event in Upper Darby to talk to senior citizens about Medicare eligibility - and he used the occasion to address the protests - and where he stands on Obamacare.
Meehan is no stranger to the opposition to the new federal health care program. He has often voiced his displeasure with several parts of the plan. But he stressed Wednesday that the latest repeal push is only part of a process, and it is his hope that several key parts of the program will remain.
In particular, he noted that he supports the measure allowing dependent children to stay on their parents' coverage until age 26, and also assurances for people with pre-existing conditions.
"It's an authorization. It allows us to begin the process," Meehan stated of his vote in joining Republicans in the 227-198 push to repeal Obamacare last week. "It changes nothing unto itself but it allows the committees the begin the process of looking at what I call the rescue and repair of the issues that have been affected from the Affordable Care Act."
He also stressed that the escalating costs of the program have to be addressed.
Meehan said deductibles have increased in some cases from $900 to $1,500 annually before the insurance kicks in. He also lamented that more and more insurers are getting out of the program. At one point there were 13 ACA programs in Pennsylvania; now there will only be eight, according to the congressman.
So it's not repeal and replace.
Think rescue and repair.
You can read the full story here.
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