During visit to East St. Louis, Durbin rails against Trump’s attempt to kill Obamacare
Sen. Dick Durbin railed against the Trump administration’s lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” which will be heard in federal appellate court next week.
“The notion that we would eliminate this and go back to the so-called good old days, making America great again, when the insurance companies could charge what they wish and discriminate as they wish is unacceptable to most Americans and to me,” he said.
Durbin was in East St. Louis on Tuesday afternoon to visit the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville’s WE CARE Clinic, a nurse-managed primary clinic sponsored by the SIUE School of Nursing. The clinic serves patients of all ages and works with community partners to decrease health disparities and promote health in the area.
He said the visit came at an important time.
“It puts into perspective the fact that we need to have intervention, participation and cooperation of great institutions like the Southern University of Illinois Edwardsville to make sure the basic health services are available,” he said.
Rep. Mike Bost, a Republican from Murphysboro, has previously voted to repeal Obamacare. He has co-sponsored legislation to alter it.
After his tour, Durbin, a Democrat, spoke about his frustration with President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice’s recent lawsuit against the ACA, which was filed May 1 by Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, and 20 other Republican attorneys general.
“I am hoping we can prevail and defeat them because the Affordable Care Act has made a dramatic difference in America and in Illinois,” he said.
Ending the ACA, which the lawsuit aims to do, could end health insurance for approximately 21 million Americans and could affect others who benefit from the law’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions and required coverage for pregnancy, prescription drugs and mental health, based on estimates from various groups.
Next week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments for the case (Texas v. United States) which calls into question the constitutionality of the ACA due to its mandate requiring people to buy health insurance and the ability of the law to stand without it.
Durbin said he was “very worried” about the decision.
“I’m very concerned,” he said. “No one who complains about the Affordable Care Act has a replacement or a substitute... I think that should be our fundamental starting point in all conversations.”
On Bost’s website, he writes that he will continue to support policies to repeal the ACA and replace it with “fiscally-responsible patient-centric reforms that help reduce costs without sacrificing access to care.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2019 at 4:43 PM with the headline "During visit to East St. Louis, Durbin rails against Trump’s attempt to kill Obamacare."
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