Constituents Urge U.S. Rep. Dave Trott To Vote Against 'Trumpcare'

NOVI, MI — As soon as Thursday, Congress could vote on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act with what some have dubbed as “Trumpcare.” A local grassroots group is urging U.S. Rep. Dave Trott not to vote “yes” on the plan, which they believe will result in millions of Americans losing coverage.

The group, which calls itself the “Indivisible 11th Congressional District,” was out in force at Trott’s public town hall at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi Saturday. Alan Fosnacht said the goal was to let Trott, a Birmingham Republican, know he should prioritize his constituents over politics.

“We do not want to see senior citizens and people with pre-existing conditions thrown under the bus,” said Fosnacht, a Waterford resident. “We don’t understand why Congressman Trott would support this.”

The Saturday town hall was the first Trott has held in two years. It was an hour-long question-and-answer session with members of the audience writing out questions for him to answer. Novi Mayor Bob Gatt drew the questions randomly from a metal bin.

Many of the questions were about potential changes to healthcare. Trott withstood a fair amount of shouts about the hot-button topic, but also listened to one man tell his story about his son’s battle with lymphoma, even promising to meet with him on Tuesday.

Trott didn’t say which way he would vote on the bill before Congress, which was mainly architected by House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he seemed to be leaning toward “yes.”

“It’s a better solution than the ACA,” Trott said Saturday. He added that “Obamacare” was failing and would soon collapse for lack of funding. “We’re trying to make (healthcare) more affordable.”
Among the changes proposed by Republicans, the bill would eliminate the tax penalty for those who don't have coverage. NPR reported that the bill would also offer tax credits, refundable in advance, to people with incomes below $75,000. But those credits will be lower in many cases than the subsidies now offered in the ACA, NPR reported.

Fosnacht believes some 14 million people would wind up without coverage if the bill is approved. He cited that number from the Congressional Budget Office’s report on the bill.

“We don’t feel that’s right,” Fosnacht said.

Troy resident David Hamilton, another member of the group, agreed. “Many of the hardest hit will be seniors, who will see huge increases in their premiums just because they’re old,” he said in a statement. “Since when did our country turn its back on people just because they’re sick or old?”

Trott told the audience the bill would likely undergo changes before coming up for a vote. But he said something must be done sooner rather than later.

“The ACA is collapsing,” Trott said. “We’re trying to fix it.”

Photo by Scott Daniel (Patch Staff)