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Feet to the fire

Editor:

So, we’re making America great again?

Under the Republican health care proposal, 24 million Americans would lose their coverage by 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Seniors and the poor would face much higher insurance premiums, limiting their ability to afford them. Under the proposal, the richest 2 percent in our country would receive $275 billion in tax cuts.

The proposed defunding of Planned Parenthood would hurt low-and middle-income women who access that agency’s health care services.

Worse, many Medicaid recipients would likely lose their coverage given the proposed cutbacks. Why should we care? More than 700,000 Ohioans gained health insurance under the Medicaid expansion that occurred under Obamacare.

In Columbiana County, which has 105,000 residents, there are 26,000 people on Medicaid. Of that number, nearly 7,000 have insurance thanks to the Medicaid expansion.

Those people are your family members, friends and neighbors.

President Trump and Congressional Republicans act as if their plan will give us freedom to make our own choices in health care. But what choice will we have if we can’t afford what they want to enact?

Our congressman, Bill Johnson, has repeatedly said that he is advocating for our county’s unemployed miners and factory workers who are facing economic hardships. The Republican plan would increase their burden so let’s put the congressman to the test.

Call Rep. Johnson in Washington at 202-225-5705 of in Salem at 337-6951 and demand that he vote against this bill for the good of Columbiana County.

Congress can do better; Obamacare was a good start that needs to be tweaked, not thrown out.

Peter Wilson

Lisbon

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