Panel presentation to address the impact of possible repeal of the ACA

There will be a panel presentation on the impact that repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA – also known as Obamacare), cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Planned Parenthood will have on New York residents. The presentation will take place on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m. in the Hubbard Auditorium in the Tioga County Office Building located at 56 Main St. in Owego, N.Y. 

Panelists include Dan Lamb, Deborah Dawson and Leslie Danks Burke. Dan Lamb will speak on the Congressional agenda/repeal of ACA and potential effects on other social safety net programs. Deborah Dawson will speak on facts and figures of repeal, looking especially at local impacts. Leslie Danks Burke will talk about what actions can be taken to prevent ACA Repeal and cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Planned Parenthood. 

According to a release received by the organizers of the panel presentation, the ACA repeal will affect more than those that have health insurance through it. Repeal will restore lifetime caps on payments, remove preventative care and increase drugs costs for seniors in the “donut hole”. 

The releases added that ACA repeal eliminates Medicare wellness provisions like free colonoscopies, mammograms, smoking cessation programs, annual physical exams and contraception; diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol screenings will disappear, and rejection from health insurance for a pre-existing condition will return.

It was also noted, in the release, that the ACA repeal will end the $3.75 billion that New York State receives to pay for Medicaid and that shortfall will be reflected in property taxes. The release put forth that the Affordable Care Act does need revisions to solve some of its problems, but repeal without a plan to replace it will return us to the days when we are all one catastrophic illness away from bankruptcy.