Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) drew intense jeers at a town hall Friday when he defended the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal plan by claiming nobody dies due to lack of access to health care.
One day after the House passed the American Health Care Act, Labrador faced off with constituents at a town hall at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, according to the Idaho Statesman.
One woman stood up and said the GOP bill, which makes major cuts to Medicaid, was essentially telling people to die.
“That line is so indefensible,” Labrador shot back. “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care.”
His response immediately drew boos and quickly drew attention on social media.
Labrador was similarly criticized at another town hall last month, when he said healthcare is not a "basic human right."
GambaKufu on May 6th, 2017 at 14:36 UTC »
I had a friend on a forum who lived in Ohio (I'm a Brit). He had a chest infection and no money to go to a doctor, it turned into pneumonia (at which point he got healthcare I guess because he was in intensive care) and a week or two later he died in his twenties. I'm sure the politician here would say that he got healthcare therefore doesn't count, but routine healthcare for treatable conditions prevents expensive emergency care later.
EDIT: For clarity - having gone back and read his posts at the time, he had an appointment with a free clinic, but he was having to wait a few weeks to see someone and the infection progressed between calling and seeing the doctor I guess. His twitter is still up and his last couple of tweets are eerie.
Bluntman962 on May 6th, 2017 at 14:01 UTC »
"Nobody dies from falling out of a plane."
namesaremptynoise on May 6th, 2017 at 13:15 UTC »
Well, nobody who matters anyways...