Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry got an earful from a constituent Wednesday about repeatedly voting against Obamacare at a town hall in Asheville, North Carolina.
Skip Edwards, 63, got up in a packed school auditorium and told McHenry about his financial difficulties in obtaining health insurance after losing his job during the recession. Both Edwards and his wife were previously denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions, the Asheville Citizen-Times reports.
“It cost us $1,300 bucks a month — extremely expensive,” Edwards said, as quoted by the Citizen-Times. “It taps us out every month. But at our age and health, we’ve got to have it.”
More on the back and forth from the Citizen-Times story:
McHenry, 37, has repeatedly voted against the Affordable Care Act, choosing to either defund, repeal or delay it. In defending his position, he said he did agree with some aspects of the act, including ending discrimination against pre-existing conditions and extending the age a children can stay on their parents’ health insurance.
About 270 packed the auditorium, with others turned away for lack of space.
Edwards and others wondered why McHenry would vote against a plan they feel is better than nothing at all. He said he would not vote for something he feels is bad policy.
McHenry also told Edwards he thought the high-risk pool he qualified for should be enhanced, adding “That is more of a solution than I think that Obamacare will be,” as many in the crowd groaned.
McHenry also said he thinks people should be able to buy health insurance across state lines and save tax-free for a health care event.
Another North Carolina Republican was on the receiving end of similar pushback at a townhall Monday, only for not supporting efforts to defund Obamacare and risk a government shutdown.
h/t Greg Sargent
