Hundreds rally in Denver to prevent repeal of Obamacare

DENVER – Hundreds of people gathered in Denver Sunday in hopes of preventing a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette, CO-01, organized the rally near West High School. Other local government officials were in attendance.

“We fundamentally have to not just keep the Affordable Care Act, but as others have said, improve on it until all Americans are covered, until all Americans are covered, until all Americans are covered!” said Ron Ruggiero, the local president of the Service Employees International Union.

About 600 people showed up not only to the DeGette event, but also to another rally held at the steps of the State Capitol, according to Denver7 photojournalist Eric Goody. 

Another rally in support of the ACA will take place on the Capitol steps at 2pm today.@DenverChannel pic.twitter.com/qnOObijpho

— Eric Goody (@ejgoody) January 15, 2017

“Repealing the ACA without a replacement in place will affect every American, not just those enrolled in the exchanges and Medicaid,” DeGette said in a press release sent to Denver7. “Repeal alone would wreak havoc on the entire health system.  It would make health care across the board more expensive – raising premiums, prescription drug prices and out-of-pocket costs.  And it would rip insurance coverage away from up to 30 million people.”

The rallies come two days after the House of Representatives began the process to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

"I can't help but think back to when we were debating this law in 2010. As a member of the minority, I stood right here and pleaded with the majority not to do it. Don't take something as personal as health care and subject it to this big government experiment. Don't do something so arrogant and so contrary to our founding principles," House Speaker Ryan said in a rare floor speech. "My colleagues, this experiment has failed. This law is collapsing as we speak. And we have to step in before things get even worse. This is nothing short of a rescue mission.”

Some members of the Republican Party cited concerns about the timeline to replace Obamacare and the lack of spending cuts in the underlying budget being voted one.