SAN ANTONIO – As Republicans in Washington try to seize their last chance to repeal and replace Obamacare without the support of Democrats, protesters in San Antonio said they like their health care just the way it is.
About 30 people showed up outside Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's office Monday morning to protest the Graham-Cassidy bill in the Senate right now.
The method Republicans are using to push through the bill expires Sept. 30, so they have less than a week to convince key holdouts to avoid a filibuster.
Until then, the protesters wants Cruz to know where they stand.
"I hear that he's thinking about his vote, and I want to encourage him in every way that I can to vote against repair and repeal," said Lou Taylor, with TX21Indivisible, one of the protest groups. “(And) work with Democrats to fix the ACA, to not vote for something that they don't even know what the effects are going to be, but to take our time, and do what's right for everybody."
On Sunday, Senate Republicans revised the bill, widely seen as an effort to win over senators like Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and John McCain, of Arizona.
Protesters in San Antonio say those changes do nothing to make it better for Texans.
They say the biggest problem is the effect on Medicaid.
"For Texas, this is a really bad bill, because it's going to cap and it's going to cut Medicaid dramatically, and in Texas, we have a different Medicaid program then the rest," Tiffany Hogue, with the Texas Organizing Project said. ”We're talking about it covers pregnant women, it covers children, it covers very low-income seniors, and it covers people with disabilities, so who from that list are you going to cut health care for, because that's what we're talking about?"
On Monday afternoon, a spokesman for Cruz issued the following statement:
"Sen. Cruz remains committed to repealing Obamacare and continues to work with his colleagues on a bill that will lower premiums, and put patients, not the government, in charge of their health care."
Cruz did tell CNN on Sunday he does not support the current bill, but is working with the sponsors to get to its passing.
