SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – In Rep. Scott DesJarlais’ district, some residents are cheering the demise of the revised national health care law bitterly opposed by the House Freedom Caucus, of which DesJarlais is a member.
Registered nurse Lauren Collins said she still supports President Donald Trump but was disappointed to see him backing a health plan that made big cuts to Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance for the poor and the disabled.
“I just really thought that he was going to make changes for the positive, and I was surprised to see him wanting to cut funds for that,” said Collins, who lives in Shelbyville, a rural city about 60 miles southeast of Nashville that is known for its Tennessee walking horse industry.
For Collins, a hospice nurse who cares for the dying, the proposed Medicaid cuts are personal. Many of her older patients, she says, rely on the program to pay for nursing home care. Also, she has a disabled adult brother on the program.
“He is on a Medicaid waiver that will pay for his adult day care, and I’m scared expenses are going to be cut for the program,” she said.