U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler discusses the upcoming months in Congress during a town hall meeting hosted at the 40 et 8 Chateau in Hazel Dell Jan. 17.
Registered nurse and representative of nurses’ organizations Travis Elmore urges U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler to not vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act during a town hall meeting.
Constituents listen to U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler during a town hall meeting.
HAZEL DELL — A packed room at the 40 et 8 Chateau voiced concerns on Congress’ plans for the Affordable Care Act as constituents of the 3rd Congressional District of Washington asked questions and heard answers from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Vancouver, during a town hall meeting Jan. 17.
The focus of the majority of questions was on what would happen to the ACA with the transition of power from former President Barack Obama to President Donald Trump. Discussion got lively at times with rounds of applause and protesting voices periodically filled the venue between constituent questions and Herrera Beutler’s explanations.
The town hall came on the heels of a recent vote in the House of Representatives that would severely hurt the ACA — often called Obamacare. Some in attendance were dismayed over Herrera Beutler’s “yes” vote on the budget which was split along party lines.
Herrera Beutler listed some of the fixes offered by the GOP she favored, namely health savings accounts, use of tax credits to allow more choice for individuals as well as the possibility of purchasing insurance over state lines. She was also in favor of state-based high-risk pools which had, in years prior to the ACA, provided coverage to individuals unable to get individual insurance due to a pre-existing condition.
Calls for Herrera Beutler to not repeal the ACA outright did not seem to dissuade her from her desire to see Obamacare replaced.
“This shouldn’t be news that I want to replace the Affordable Care Act,” Herrera Beutler said, adding that since her first run for the U.S. House in 2010 that has been a goal. “One of the biggest promises I made to the people I serve in this region is that I’m going to fight to replace it with something better.”
“My interest is not going back to the status quo,” Herrera Beutler said. “My interest is not leaving people high and dry. My interest is making sure that families can afford the healthcare that they get and that it meets their needs.”
David Letinich, a union member for 39 years from Vancouver, addressed the phrasing might be at the cause of much of the pushback against Herrera Beutler’s stance on healthcare.
“I think ‘repeal’ is just one of those words that just ticks people off and scares people,” Letinich said. “If you could just say ‘reform,’ not replace, or ‘improve’ — why do we have to say ‘repeal?’”
Hazel Dell resident Peter Harrison provided an example of ACA success, explaining that when his family moved to a plan on the health care exchange he said the switch ended up saving his family $500 a month “for about the same coverage” as the old plan.
“$6,000 (annually) is the biggest ‘tax break’ that I’ve ever gotten,” Harrison said.
Harrison displayed two expired epinephrine injectors (a drug used for allergic reactions) which he said cost him under $150 for both two years ago. Today the injectors would cost $600.
“If you want to control health care costs, we need to control the costs of drugs,” Harrison said. He brought up specific pieces of legislation Herrera Beutler should sponsor, specifically a House resolution that would “require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies regarding prices for drugs covered under the Medicare prescription drug benefit,” according to a summary from the U.S. Congressional website, as well as the possibility of creating companion legislation to a bill in the Senate allowing importation of drugs from Canada.
“I’m not okay with people being gouged. I believe in free markets, but it’s not a free market if you are able to constrict it to the point where people don’t have other options,” Herrera Beutler said, adding she was open to reviewing the merits of the bills.
Travis Elmore, Washington State Nurses Association member and American Nurses Association PAC board member, spoke about the ACA which he said both organizations he represented supported. He urged Herrera Beutler not to vote for repeal, explaining that data he has seen showed hospitals in relatively good shape in the state under Obamacare.
“What I would like to say is that if you do vote to repeal, make sure that there is something as good or better than the Affordable Care Act,” Elmore said. “Personally, we know that Obamacare does have problems … but we would like to see is the Republicans take what’s already there, fix it, make it better and make it bipartisan.”
Although Herrera Beutler mentioned that the ACA was largely partisan legislation, she said finding a solution along the lines of some basics — “that everybody has access to care that can meet their needs, that they can pay for” — was something she has been fighting for.
“I have been fighting with folks in my own party to say if you really want to fix it, and we really want buy in, we need to take the time to put together what people agree on,” Herrera Beutler said. “I’m willing to give in some areas.”
Herrera Beutler on Trump
Herrera Beutler’s views on President Donald Trump were revisited, this time after the GOP nominee for president clinched the Electoral College in November. Self-described “lifelong Democrat with a very liberal, progressive point of view” Cindy Haverkate asked if the Representative agreed with her assessment of Trump, calling his comments and actions during the campaign and after as “truly horrific.”
Haverkate said although she didn’t agree with Herrera Beutler on many issues, she still saw her as a “decent, family-oriented person” with values Haverkate could respect.
“I cannot, however, say the same thing about Donald Trump,” Haverkate said before asking how Herrera Beutler would stand up to Trump’s comments and actions if she agreed, or how she rationalized said actions if she disagreed.
“Please call a lie, a lie. Please call hatred, hatred. Please call prejudice, prejudice,” Haverkate pleaded to applause from the crowd.
Herrera Beutler said she did not vote for the President-elect due to a personal desire not to have to explain to her daughter how she could endorse an individual exhibiting behavior like Trump’s.
“I couldn’t put my name next to his name,” Herrera Beutler said. “A lot of good people that I know and respect did (vote for Trump) for very good reasons, and it’s not because they condone his behavior.”
She reiterated she did not trust Hillary Clinton as an alternative.
Moving forward, Herrera Beutler said she would take the same approach she did with Obama, not letting ideological differences get in the way of practical progress.
“If Donald Trump is going to do things that benefit the people that I serve, I’m going to work with him on it,” Herrera Beutler said, “because if he’s successful, we’re successful. That’s my philosophy.”
