State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) speaks at a press conference alongside state Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-Allegheny in Pittsburgh Sept. 18, 2024 (Photo by Abigail Hakas for the Capital-Star)
PITTSBURGH — At a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Pennsylvania Democratic state representatives and a local physician challenged former President Donald Trump’s comment during the Sept. 10 presidential debate that he had “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act.
Trump has previously said that Republicans should “never give up” attempting to overturn the ACA after his attempts at a repeal during his presidency failed.
The 2010 law remains popular; in 2024, some 435,000 Pennsylvanians have health care coverage through Pennie, the state’s health insurance marketplace established under the ACA, according to the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority. Nationwide, more than 20 million people signed up for ACA plans in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a record high.
Pennsylvania state Rep. Arvind Venkat (D-Allegheny), who has been a practicing emergency physician in Pennsylvania for almost 25 years, said Wednesday that before the Affordable Care Act 20% of his patients had no health insurance.
That’s not “an abstract statistic,” he said.
Venkat recalled asking a patient who had breast cancer why she had not sought treatment earlier. She told him previous medical visits left her with debt, and she was scared of the cost of more visits.
“My patient died,” he said. “The only thing we could do was treat her pain and stabilize her, and that is a direct result of the lack of health insurance coverage that existed before the Affordable Care Act.”
In an interview after the press conference, Venkat pointed to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act which prevents Medicare-participating hospitals from refusing to provide treatment to patients.
“Before the Affordable Care Act, we saw millions of Americans who only could seek care in the emergency department. They did not get the necessary preventive care. They did not get the necessary ongoing care they needed,” he said. “I’d love to say that the patient that I described who died because of delaying necessary care was unique, she wasn’t unique.”
Pennsylvania state Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), chair of the House Health Committee, warned of the potential of a successful ACA repeal if Trump wins another term.
“Let’s be clear. We know exactly what Trump’s plans are. He has publicly promised that if he is reelected, he will terminate the ACA,” Frankel said. “While he was just one vote short last time, if he is reelected, he has plans to make good on this promise as part of his Project 2025 agenda.”
The Trump campaign did not reply to a request for comment Wednesday.
Frankel’s reference to Project 2025 is a common refrain on the campaign trail this election, as Democrats try to tie the 900-page conservative policy proposal to Trump, who has denied being involved with it.
Dr. Kristina Nicholson, a local trauma surgeon, said her daughter has medical needs that most kids don’t and is “terrified” about what a second Trump presidency would mean for her and her family.
“I cannot imagine a world where my daughter would be denied health insurance when she grows up because Donald Trump took those protections away from her,” Nicholson said.