By DAVID DUPONT
BG independent News
The Republicans have been gunning for the Affordable Care Act since it passed without a single GOP vote.
Now with control of both Congress and the White House, they are on the brink of doing it.
The problem, according to Kris Johnson, a Northwest Ohio activist, is: “They want to get rid of ACA, but they can’t come up with a solution that’s any better
Our Revolution in Northwest Ohio, a group Johnson is affiliated with, wants to help.
Yes, they are a group that is taking up the mantle of Independent socialist Bernie Sanders’ failed run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. “We are taking Bernie’s agenda and manifesting it any way we can,” said organizer Dennis Slotnick.
Still they see a way out of the current logjam. One that addresses the problems that led to the passage of the ACA, and one that addresses that law’s flaws.
Slotnick agrees with Sanders that while imperfect the law is “a lot better than what we had before.”
More than 30 million people now have insurance who didn’t before, he said. And the law makes sure those with pre-existing conditions can still get insurance.
What the ACA needs, he said, is a public option, where people can forego the private insurance market entirely.
“We’re in a position of offering real solutions,” Slotnick said.
Our Revolution in Northwest Ohio in conjunction with Single-Payer Action Network Ohio, a group that has been around for 20 years, want to be able to make their case face-to-face with legislators.
On Saturday they will hold aT0own Hall on the Future of America’s Healthcare from 2-4:30 p.m. in Ballroom B at Bowling Green State University Student Union.
While the hope is for U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) to attend, his staff has said little beyond they will forward the information to him, according to Slotnick.
Also invited has been U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Toledo) and about a dozen state legislators. As of mid-week Slotnick didn’t have any commitments from politicians to attend.
Our Revolution has been around for a few months. This is its first major action. While Sanders is not officially affiliated with the group, it does have his blessing.
Johnson said the action is taking place in Bowling Green “because Latta’s here.”
“The focus of our event is that the representatives are not answering to the people,” Slotnick said. He wants to give people a chance to ask legislators “how they can in any good conscience get rid of the ACA with no replacement or, even worse, one that puts more money in the insurance companies’ pockets.
Johnson said a single- payer system embodies conservative values. “It saves us more money. It would be less complicated and make people healthier.”
Johnson who has worked as a dietitian said “doctors are very concerned with the complexity” of dealing with the current system and its multiplicity of insurance companies.
At least the ACA should include a non-profit public option. When ACA was originally proposed, it did, but the insurance industry pressured to have it removed, Slotnick said.
The ACA, said Bob Heinemann, of Northwood said the ACA originated in the Heritage Foundation. Its biggest problem was that President Obama proposed it, and with his name attached the Republicans refused to support it.
Under Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, Massachusetts enacted the system on which the ACA was modeled.
There are already proposals for a public option have been put forth in both the Ohio Senate and the U.S. Senate.
