A coalition of health organizations in San Diego held a rally Wednesday to protest the U.S. Senate’s attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Local healthcare advocates say Obamacare has extended coverage to millions of Californians who did not have insurance.
Advocates contend Republican lawmakers should try to improve the current system, not throw it out.
Jan Spencley, executive director of the coalition San Diegans for Healthcare Coverage, said she was an administrator at UC San Diego Health before the implementation of Obamacare.
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“I saw people that didn’t get adequate care," she said. "I saw people that didn’t get their mammograms, who didn’t get their breast cancer diagnosed early and who were in stage 4, when they could have been in stage 2, or 1, and we could have cured them.”
Henry Tuttle, president of Health Center Partners of Southern California, a network of 17 community healthcare organizations, said efforts to slash Medicaid just do not make sense.
“We care for 800,000 patients, 2.5 million visits a year supported by Medicaid," Tuttle said. "If we take Medicaid away, where do they go? Who’s going to care for them? Who has the capacity to care for 800,000 patients?”
Senate Republicans are said to be considering a so-called "skinny repeal" of Obamacare, that would eliminate the mandate that people have health insurance, but would leave most other elements of Obamacare intact.
