MANCHESTER, N.H. – New Hampshire State Representative Jess Grill (D-Manchester) and New Hampshire State Senator Rebecca Perkins-Kwoka (D-Portsmouth) on Friday gathered with Manchester residents to celebrate the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and warn that the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House could jeopardize its future.
Grill stated that the ACA helped many younger friends of hers pursue freelance work and entrepreneurship when they otherwise would have had to forego those opportunities for a job that offered connected healthcare. She added her faith in U.S. President Joe Biden helping to address existing challenges that remain surround healthcare costs.
“Access to healthcare is important to everyone regardless of political party or beliefs in my district,” said Grill.
She said that if Trump were re-elected, as many as 570,000 Granite Staters with pre-existing conditions and 160,000 currently on ACA plans could be denied health insurance coverage on the open market, with millions of others across the country facing the same situation.
Perkins-Kwoka also noted that Republicans have tried to repeal the ACA in the past, and could have done so if Maggie Hassan did not defeat Kelly Ayotte in 2016 by 1,017 votes in their race for one of New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate seats.
“If you want an example of why your vote counts, why every New Hampshire vote counts? Those 1,017 New Hampshire votes saved healthcare for millions,” said Perkins-Kwoka.
Corrinne Potvin, a local massage therapist, was one of the Manchester residents who spoke at the event on why the ACA has been so critical to her life. She said without the ACA in place, she would likely have to close her small business and seek another job.
“There’s no alternative. Republicans have come up with nothing as an alternative to the ACA time and time again,” she said. “It would break my heart not to be able to do the work that I love so much and that is the work of helping others feel better that I’ve been able to do since the ACA was passed into law.”
Amber MacQuarrie, a Manchester mother who has two disabled children and suffered a heart attack in the past, also spoke out about her fear over not being able to afford insurance if the ACA is repealed.
“The attacks Donald Trump is making against the Affordable Care Act are an attack on me, an attack on my family, and an attack on our ability to thrive here in New Hampshire,” she said. “That is because the reality is that the alternative we face without the ACA is me not being able to get the medical care I need.”