Karen Liot Hill and Cecil Abels Headline “Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now” Bus Tour Stop in Rochester, NH

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ROCHESTER, N.H. – This afternoon, Protect Our Care's Care Force One arrived in Rochester and was joined by executive councilor Karen Liot Hill and small business owner Cecil Abels III as part of the "Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now" bus tour, calling out Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress for taking a wrecking ball to our health care system. Across the country, hard-working families are fed up with the growing health care crisis after Trump and Republicans slashed more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and gutted Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. During the event, granite staters impacted by Republican cuts to health care called on lawmakers to enact commonsense health care solutions, including restoring tax credits to lower insurance premiums, reversing devastating Medicaid cuts, expanding Medicare's power to negotiate lower prices for more drugs and extending those lower prices to all Americans with insurance, penalizing drug companies that raise prices faster than inflation, and protecting patients from high costs by extending the annual $2,000 out-of-pocket cap and the $35 insulin co-pay cap to people with private coverage.

"When people lose insurance, they don't stop needing health care. Women don't stop getting pregnant, people don't stop getting cancer or diabetes," said Karen Liot Hill, NH-02 Executive Councilor. "They delay care, they skip appointments and prescriptions, and sometimes, a manageable health problem becomes an emergency. Eventually someone pays that bill through higher costs, uncompensated care, or pressure on the rest of our healthcare system. That's why I think about healthcare as an affordability issue. New Hampshire families are already being squeezed by the cost of housing, electricity, and groceries. Health care cannot become one more thing that working families simply cannot afford."

"We shouldn't have to fight. We shouldn't have to sit on hold with our insurance companies for hours and hours to get the health care we need," said Cecil Abels III, owner of MrSippy BBQ. "Health care should be a right, and the government should be fighting for us. When you have a healthy society, you'll have happy people who are providing for and working in their communities. We want our government to fight for us, to improve access, and make health care more affordable."

"Nine years ago I walked into the doctor's office with a nagging cough and walked out with a stage four cancer diagnosis," said Laura Packard, cancer survivor and health care advocate. "Luckily, I had good insurance that paid for the chemotherapy and radiation I needed to survive. But I'm sick of watching Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress demolish our health care system. Lawmakers need to restore the tax credits that keep premiums affordable, reverse these devastating Medicaid cuts, and make sure people like me can actually afford to survive. Cancer doesn't wait, and neither should Congress."

"Families here in Rochester and across New Hampshire are sick of worrying about whether they can find care and afford it," said Jayme H. Simões, Protect Our Care New Hampshire and event emcee. "When health care services disappear, insurance becomes more expensive or families lose coverage, the consequences reach entire communities. People travel farther, postpone treatment and face bills they cannot manage. We're calling on Congress to restore affordable coverage, protect Medicaid and lower prescription drug costs. Granite Staters deserve a health care system they can count on."

The "Sick of It! Fix Health Care Now" tour continues tomorrow, October 6, at 9:00 a.m. at the New Hampshire State House Plaza with U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander and Cinde Warmington.