While the U.S. Senate recently rejected a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the issue of health care remains a controversial one as Congress tries to finish its work before the end of the month. That was evident during the first of three town hall meetings hosted Saturday by Congressman Tom Reed. About 50 people were on hand at the Kiantone Fire Hall -- just south of Jamestown -- and several expressed concern over two proposals now being considered by the Senate. Reed says he opposes the Cassidy-Graham Bill because it doesn't consider three areas the Problem Solvers Caucus he co-chairs deal with. He says the first was to stablize the current Affordable Care Act exchanges...
Tom Reed: stabilizing current ACA exchanges
On the Republican side, Reed says they were able to get Democrats to agree to increasing the number of employees to be considered for a small business from 50 to 500 workers, and set the "work week" provision at 40 hours instead of the current 30. However, one woman expressed worries about losing provisions for pre-existing conditions...
woman: worries about pre-existing conditions
There was also heated discussion over how the Trump administration has been dealing with the immigrantion issue. Town hall meetings were also held Saturday in Fredonia and in Ellicottville. Residents who attended Reed's town hall at Fredonia Central School discussed racism and President Trump's border wall.
