Poor in US Worried About

Loss of ObamaCare
February 12, 2017

Bread for the City, a nonprofit organization, runs a free legal,

medical and dental clinic and offers food, clothing and other
services to 10,000 Washington residents each month. (A.
Pande/VOA)

Dr. Monica Vohra says her patients are often worried

when they come to see her at a free medical center in
Washington, D.C.
But she says their worries have increased recently.

Most of Dr. Vohras patients are low-income, members

of minority groups and are mainly immigrants to the
United States.

"I think the language that's out there has been

disturbing. Some of it has re-traumatized some of our
folks who have been traumatized by previous policies.
There's a sense of feeling unsafe and insecure.
Dr. Vohra says many of her patients are worried that
they will lose their health insurance if they received
coverage through the Affordable Care Act. That law is
often called ObamaCare.

She says critical statements by President Donald Trump

about ObamaCare make her patients worry they will lose
their insurance.

Its definitely something that is on our minds, she

says. We encourage people to get insurance every day,
and in the back of my mind I am thinking, What if this
is not an option soon?
Trump and the Republican-majority Congress say they
plan to cancel ObamaCare and replace it. The new
program will give, in the presidents words, great health
care for less money.

Many poor Americans are waiting to see how any new

program will affect them.
Brian Nabinett is one of them. He has lived in
Washington, D.C. for many years. VOA spoke with him
at Bread for the City, a non-profit organization that gives
food, clothing and legal and medical services to about
10,000 people every month.

Nabinett says the organization is one of the beautiful

places in D.C. It helps a lot of people here. If I need
counseling or food, I can always come here.

Some volunteers at Bread for the City are not sure how
the new administrations planned changes will affect
poor people.

Patrice Ali is one of those volunteers. She got food and

clothing from Bread for the City when she was jobless.

She told VOA that she is concerned about the situation

of the poor and what services they will be offered. She
said programs like Obamacare and Medicaid, a
government health program for children and the poor,
are very important.
Ali believes few political leaders understand what is
happening in the country. She says that in recent years
she has seen an increase in the difference in income
between poor people and others.

Since I've been in my 20s, I have noticed that

the gap has increasingly gotten larger, no matter who is
actually in that position of power or authority to run this
particular country.
York, Pennsylvania is about 160 kilometers to the north
of Washington. At the York County Food Bank, Grace
Geltrude is getting food and other items that she says
help her family survive.

It is very important because (the) cost of living goes up

all the time, she says. We have a 3-year-old in the
home. There used to be 13 people in the house at one
time.

The food bank gives food to churches and other groups

that help poor families in southern Pennsylvania.

Debbie Krout-Althoff is the director of development at

the food bank. She says 680 kilograms of food are given
on Fridays alone.

I think it's an eye-opening experience when you come

back from lunch and you see people outside of our
building lined up for blocks to receive the food in all
kinds of weather. We kinda go through life
with blinders.
She says some low-income people in the county are
worried about whether they will lose their medical
insurance. But she says they are most concerned about
survival -- how they are going to feed their family, how
are they going to pay their bills."

Geltrude says she has depended on the food bank, aid

and a local health insurance program for help.
I could not afford the insurance any other way, with the
bills and all, taking care of a vehicle. I mean, it does get
costly. And without some of these programs, people are
struggling.

The struggles of Geltrude and others like her are issues

lawmakers will consider as they make changes to health
care policies in the future.

Im Jonathan Evans.

VOA Correspondent Aru Pande reported this story

from Washington, DC and York, Pennsylvania.
Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for
Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.
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Words in This Story

re-traumatized adj. to again become very upset; to
again suffer emotional harm
option n. an opportunity or a chance to choose
something
Medicaid n. a health program involving federal and
state government that pays for some kinds of health care
for poor families
gap n. a space between two things or groups
despair n. unhappiness; not having hope
blinders n. devices that keep a horse from seeing
what is next to him; anything that limits someones
vision or knowledge