In Friday Harbor, Larsen to Hold Trumpcare ‘Town Talk’

Sunday, March 26, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m., Brickworks Building

— from Douglas Wagoner —

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) will on Sunday hold a “Town Talk” at the Brickworks Building to hear directly from his constituents about their questions and concerns on Trumpcare, Congressional Republicans’ bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and any other issues important to them.

Sunday’s event is a continuation of Larsen’s Affordable Care Act Tour of Washington’s 2nd Congressional District – a series of events in towns and cities across Northwest Washingtonian aimed a highlighting how efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act will negatively affect Washingtonians. Larsen has already heard directly from more than 800 constituents in Town Talks in Mountlake Terrace, Bellingham, Marysville and Anacortes, Langley and Sedro-Woolley.

Key provisions of Trumpcare include repealing the individual mandate, doing away with the Affordable Care Act tax credits that low- and middle-income families rely on to afford health insurance, phasing out critical federal healthcare resources for states and repealing the taxes on wealthy Americans which currently finance the Affordable Care Act. The legislation also reduces the quality of healthcare by removing health insurance benefit requirements for some lower-income Americans, which could exacerbate the opioids crisis by leaving up to 1.3 million people without access to substance abuse services.

According to a report on Trumpcare from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, 24 million fewer Americans would have health insurance over the next decade, average healthcare premiums would rise by 15-20% over the next two years and critical federal healthcare funding to states would be cut by $880 billion. Previous reports from the Joint Committee on Taxation show that Trumpcare will also provide a $600 billion tax break – primarily for the wealthiest Americans.

In January, Larsen launched an online platform for Washingtonians to share their stories about how they or someone they know has benefited from the Affordable Care Act. More than 500 constituents have shared their stories. Larsen is using these stories to help beat back efforts to take away health care from Washingtonians, which includes 537,000 people who gained coverage thanks to the Affordable Care Act, over 2,969,000 people with a pre-existing condition, and millions more whose critical benefits and health costs are at risk.