A grieving mother whose son was denied insurance because of a 'pre-existing condition' and later died of colon cancer asks why Congressman Patrick McHenry would repeal "Obamacare."
Nearly 300 citizens in North Carolina attended a town hall held by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) in Swannanoa to confront McHenry about Obamacare on Wednesday, including a mother grieving the death of her son.
During a live interview with WLOS-TV reporter Kimberly King before the event, Leslie Boyd, of Asheville, said her son might still be alive had the health care law's protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions been in place sooner.
"My son had a pre-existing condition, a birth defect," Boyd said, holding a framed photo of her dead son. "And without that birth defect he probably would have been able to get insurance. But that birth defect prevented him from getting insurance and without it he could not get the care he needed. And so he got colon cancer and they caught it after it had already spread, so he died."
The Affordable Care Act prohibits the health insurance industry from discriminating against the sick starting in 2014.
Many in attendance were there to question the Republican’s position on the Affordable Care Act, with others turned away when the hall reached capacity.
McHenry, 37, has repeatedly voted against the Affordable Care Act, choosing to either defund, repeal or delay it. (Remember, House Speaker John Boehner believes Congress should be judged by how many bills they repeal!)
Not a very stellar evening for Congressman McHenry, as the crowd often groaned or booed in response to his alternative solutions to Obamacare.