The demise of Paul Ryan and Donald Trump’s misguided effort to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act is a victory for the American people.
As stated in a piece by the Editorial Board of the Washington Post: “The attempt by President Trump and House Republicans to force through a healthcare bill scorned by experts across the spectrum, projected to be a disaster for aging and low-income people and opposed by a large majority of Americans ended in debacle. Now the danger is that a wounded president and his GOP allies will act on their sore feelings by irresponsibly attacking the existing healthcare system in other ways.”
Instead of reaching out to the Democratic members of the House, Ryan and Trump tried to pass their bill with Republican votes only. As the bill evolved, the Republican majority was torn apart by appeasement of the most extreme right-wing members of their caucus, who don’t believe in the existence of any form of federally-supported health care.
Democrats opposed this bill because of the widespread pain and suffering it would have caused the American people. However, Democrats are not opposed to passing legislation that would strengthen the Affordable Care Act. Quite the contrary — they would welcome an opportunity to do so.
If Donald Trump and the congressional Republicans are truly interested in improving health care they will reach across the aisle and work with the Democratic side to improve the ACA rather than attempt to destroy it.
Congressman Fred Upton claims to be committed to bipartisanship, but he stated that he would vote in favor of the Republican-only “repeal and replace” bill if it came up for a vote in the House. Now is the time for him to step forward and be a strong advocate for a bipartisan approach to improving our health care system.
We the people will be watching to see if his actions match his words. So far, the answer is a resounding “no.”

GRETTA VAN BREE
Lincoln Township