Watch CBS News

Affordable Care Act Not Going Down Without A Fight

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) —   House Minority leader D-CA Nancy Pelosi joined fellow representatives on Monday and a room full of supporters downtown promising to fight the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

"We do not want to diminish the number of people who are covered, reduce their benefits or increase their cost," Pelosi, who is optimistic she can accomplish that, said.

And there were testimonials from people battling life threatening conditions.

"Two years ago I was dying of cancer, now I'm living with it," a man at the event said.

"Will I be able to get the care I need, to survive?" one woman asked.

Meantime House Republicans and President-Elect Trump are offering a different assessment of the Affordable Care Act.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, spoke this past week after the house passed a budget initiative that sets the stage for a repeal.

"We could watch the collapse of our health care system and say look at what these Democrats did, we're not going to do that,"  Ryan said.

And over the weekend Trump told the Washington Post he is close to completing a plan that would replace Obamacare with "insurance for everybody."

Pelosi is calling those who support the Affordable Care Act to contact their representatives.

Two-time cancer survivor Barbi Appelquist says her life depends on it.

"We live in America we have an opportunity to use our voices to speak out," she says. "The Affordable Care Act, it saves lives, it saved mine and it continues to save lives today."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.