MORGANTOWN — A highly decorated tour bus — Care Force One — was parked in front of Westover City Hall for a couple hours Monday, while representatives of the Protect Our Care Bus Tour decried Republican-led, health-care legislation.
The stop was one of three in West Virginia slated for Monday and part of a 48-stop, 23-state tour expected to cover more than 11,300 miles.
“We want to build awareness and advocacy around health care and health-care issues, and how terrible GOP-led legislation in Congress has been, not only to the Affordable Care Act, but Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security,” Protect Our Care West Virginia Director Brad Heflin said.
It was explained that more than a third of West Virginians receive Medicaid and more than 737,000 of West Virginia’s 1.2 million residents live with a pre-existing condition.
According to Protect Our Care, both of those groups could see reduced or lost coverage if Republicans get their way.
“It shouldn’t be this hard to protect basic rights, like protections for people with pre-existing conditions,” Protect Our Care representative T.J. Helmstetter said, noting the group also opposes the confirmation of United State Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh, “because he’s shown he will be an anti-health care judge.”
Those assembled — tour participants, elected officials and media members — also heard from delegates Barbara Evans Fleischauer (D, Monongalia) and Linda Longstreth (D, Marion).
Fleischauer spoke about the importance of adequate funding for Medicaid, particularly in the context of West Virginians dealing with opioid addiction. She went on to say that West Virginia, per capita, has the highest population percentage on disability, and that more than half the state’s residents have a pre-existing condition.
“This is something that West Virginians, especially, should be desperate to protect,” Fleischauer said. “I’m grateful to the people who are willing to put their time in on this bus so that we can shine a light and focus on protecting our care.”
The bus also stopped in Parkersburg and Charleston on Monday before heading to Cincinnati.
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