Doctor to Rep. Nunes: Keep Obamacare until you can do better
As a practicing physician, I am concerned to see Rep. Devin Nunes’ (R-Visalia) email response to The Bee’s Dec. 11 article titled, “If Obamacare Is repealed, millions could lose Medi-Cal.”
Statistics show there has been a significant decrease in the number of uninsured in the U.S. since Obamacare was implemented, including states where Obamacare is not fully implemented.
Tulare County, where Nunes is from, has the highest Medi-Cal participation rate in the state, meaning many of his constituents will be affected if Obamacare gets repealed. All of us will agree that we cannot go back to the days when the number one cause of personal bankruptcy was due to huge medical bills.
In the same article, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, Nunes’ fellow congressman, said he plans to send letters to governors and insurance commissioners asking for their ideas for a replacement.
It seems that a replacement is at a very early stage of planning. It’s dangerous public policy to eliminate a program when so many family lives are at stake without offering an immediate replacement.
As I live in Nunes’ district, I strongly urge him to vote no to repealing Obamacare until there is a suitable replacement.
John J. Kim, Fresno
This story was originally published December 20, 2016 at 11:45 AM with the headline "Doctor to Rep. Nunes: Keep Obamacare until you can do better."