This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

As I listened to the cheering crowd when Rep. Chris Stewart spoke of his vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act at his town hall meeting in Richfieldrecently, I wondered, do these folks really know what is in the latest iteration of the American Health Care Act, or is it simply "win at all costs" that motivates their enthusiasm?

Many of the residents of rural Utah are elderly, poor or both and rely on Medicare and Medicaid. This recently introduced bill would repeal the extra taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations and hasten the depletion of the Medicare Trust Fund by four years. Republicans would then use this depletion as justification to privatize Medicare.

This bill would also eliminate Medicaid expansion. In Stewart's district alone over 20,000 individuals who would become eligible for Medicaid would lose the opportunity to gain coverage. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Nobody asked Stewart about the $400 million tax break for insurance company CEOs over the next decade or the 50,000 dollar tax break to families earning over a million dollars a year.

Somehow I don't believe there are a lot of insurance executives or millionaires in rural Utah.

John L. Williams

Marysvale