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WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)- Today's rally in Wilkes-Barre centers around the ongoing debate over the controversial Republican healthcare bill.

Right now, lawmakers are discussing reforming and possibly repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Some of the biggest concerns from Democrats with the two proposals? Dramatic cuts to Medicaid- spending would be cut by 26%. Those cuts would start in 2021 and accelerate into 2025.

Opponents of the healthcare bill, which will be front and center in Washington after the July Fourth holiday say it wil lhave a devastating impact on people who rely on Medicaid for healthcare.

Among those impacted- the poor and those who are caught up in the ongoing opioid epidemic.

They all came from all walks of life, but with a single mission: stop the Republican driven healthcare bill.

"How absolutely inhumane," says Representative Eddie Pashinski. "We're going to cut the program and we're going to take the money away from the program so people who need it won't have it and give it to people who don't need it. The millionaires and billionaires."

The folks here are concerned the legislation would eliminate funding for all types of treatment programs. The biggest concerns? The opiod crisis. Based on the current pace, 142 people are expected to die from overdoses in LuzerneCounty this year.

"If you do the math, that breaks down to one person every two and a half days," says Steve Ross, Director of theLuzerne-WyomingCounty Drug-Alcohol Agency.

"We are making progress because of Medicaid expansion," says Senator Bob Casey.

Casey is one of the Democrats leading the charge against both versions of the Republican replacement for Obamacare.

"We cannot afford this Senate bill to pass," says Casey. "It will cut that Medicaid, city those services to people who are benefiting right now from the kinds of services, those kinds of treatment."

Other folks in the crowd like Martha Hart say they rely on Medicaid for their basic healthcare. If it's not there, they will be out in the cold.

"Medicaid means so much to me," says Hart. "I'm on disability. I worked for 35 years in healthcare myself. The only way for me to get anything is to go on disability."

Casey also says he's concerned about the recent rise in the numbers of people addicted to meth. He says those people are being forgotten in the broader concern with the opioid epidemic. He wants to make sure funding is available to help those folks as well.

Senators return from break the week of July 10th. That gives them three weeks before the Republican-imposed deadline of August 1st to make changes to their bill, pass it, and then send it to the house.

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