5th District Representative Tom Garrett held his second in-person town hall at a church in Moneta last night. Nick Gilmore was there and filed this report.
Of the many questions Garrett addressed Tuesday night, none were more prevalent than those regarding healthcare.
Last week, Garrett voted yes on the American Healthcare Act, a measure that narrowly passed the House and faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
Wendell Johnson of Bedford County saw Garrett’s vote as a fulfillment of campaign promises from President Donald Trump:
“Trump ran on this concept: repeal and replace. The other candidates just said repeal Obamacare. And I think this current vote that Garrett had on the second vote around where he voted ‘yes’ is a step in the right direction.”
Eric Stamps of Danville, however, is worried what the AHCA may mean for Americans with pre-existing conditions.
“So many people that are going to be affected by new healthcare legislation and want to make sure that if a new bill is passed that it will be better than the Affordable Care Act with making sure that more people get care, not less. We don’t want anything being cut in Medicaid/Medicare or people’s treatments going up with the new bill.”
Another common topic of discussion was over the town hall format. Only 250 people were allowed to attend and had to win tickets through a lottery.
