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SOMERSET Several dozen locals, organized by theSomerset County Democratic Committee,rallied against the Republican Partys health care plan Wednesday evening on the steps of the Somerset County Courthouse.

In light of the Republican Partys Better Care and Reconciliation Act, Somerset County Democratic Committee volunteer coordinator Todd Holsopple said, and what its looking like thats going to do to the American health care industry and to health care for millions of people across the country, we felt it was really important to show that this area really cares about this issue.

The Better Care and Reconciliation Act of 2017 is the Senates draft version of the Republican-backed bill that would repealthe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often nicknamed Obamacare.

Somerset County Democratic Committee's July 5 rally against the Republican health care plan.

Erin McClelland, the 2016 Democratic nominee to represent Pennsylvanias 12th congressional district, headlined the rally. McClelland, who failed to unseat Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-Sewickley, last November and in 2014, has 20 years ofexperience in the health care industry.

Weve been goingin the wrong direction. The (Affordable Care Act) started moving us in the right direction, covering a lot more people, and now were talking about completely going backwards, McClelland said.

McClelland said she worries that the BCRA will overwhelm the nations emergency rooms with newly uninsured patients who have no other way to get medical treatment.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey told a television town hall audience on Wednesday he disagrees with a Congressional Budget Office score that estimated 22 million fewer Americans will have health care by 2026 if the Better Care Reconciliation Act he helped design is enacted.

Those 24 million people who will lose their health care theyre going to go right back into the (emergency room) system, which is the most ineffective, most expensive way to get care, she said.

Our ERs are going to get all plugged up, the people that need triage care arent going to get it, and costs are going to continue to explode.

A Congressional Budget Office report dated June 26 stated thatthe BCRA would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law. An estimated 49 million people would be uninsured, the CBO said, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year underthe Affordable Care Act.

The health care industry employs 17 percent of all workers in Americas rural counties, according to a statement posted on the website of Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, on June 21. Holsopplecited that figure when he expressed his worries about how the BCRA could affect the local economy.

When you have an industry that employs 17 percent of the jobs in rural areas like this ... its not a way forward that anybody, really, can imagine is going to be positive for the nation and especially for areas just like Somerset County, just like Cambria County, just like Bedford, he said.

The battle over the future of Medicaid in the Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has given little attention to how reduced funding will affect military veterans.

Terra Setzler, an advocacy organizer for Planned Parenthood, spoke about thenegative impact she said the Republican health care plan would have on Planned Parenthood and other womens health care providers. The BCRA wouldprevent federal funds from being made available to Planned Parenthood for one year after its enactment, according to the CBO.

Johnstown resident Larry Blalock said he came to the rally to show his support for Planned Parenthood and for the estimated 22 million people who could lose their health insurance under the BCRA. While hesaid heprefers Obamacare to the Republicans plan, he has his sights set on a further-off goal.

I really think the Affordable Care Act needs to turn into a single-payer national health care plan that were not constantly fighting over, he said, or worrying about whether or not were going to have to pay a deductible that we cant afford.

Holsopple urged rally-goers to contact their representatives in Congress and urge them to oppose the Republican health care plan.

Its not right, he said.

Were not going to sit back and let them do it.

Mark Pesto is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter at @MarkPesto.

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