Trump's health care plan elicits support, skepticism from SoCal families

Anabel Munoz Image
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Trump's health care plan elicits support, skepticism
Two Southern California families describe how they have been directly affected by health care legislation.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY (KABC) -- Amid a nationwide debate over the Trump administration's efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, two Southern California families described how they have been directly affected by health care legislation.

Scott Snider said his health insurance premium skyrocketed when the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010.

"Anything that gets the government out of health care is the best," Snyder said in a video, which he submitted after ABC7 asked viewers to comment on President Donald Trump's proposal to replace the ACA.

Snider and his wife live in Lakewood. In an interview at their home, he explained that before President Barack Obama's health care reform, Snider was paying under $200 a month for coverage.

"If I had stayed with the company I wanted to stay with, it would have risen to about $635 a payday -- or over $1,200 a month," Snider said.

Snider will retire soon, he and realizes his insurance costs will go up. He told ABC7 that he support's President Trump's proposal, the American Health Care Act of 2017.

Others are more skeptical of the AHCA.

Kristen Wilson, who also submitted a video to ABC7, says she's concerned about her young daughter, who has a pre-existing condition.

At their home in Claremont, Wilson showed a reporter all of the medical supplies that 12-year-old Abigail needs to control Type 1 diabetes.

Asked how much she was paying out of pocket, Kristen Wilson said: "Every year we pay about $10,000."

Wilson expressed concern about how coverage and costs could change for her daughter.

Depending on a number of different factors, some people with pre-existing conditions could face higher costs.

Wilson is worried about the future of health care in general, and she hopes parents will continue advocating for children with diseases like diabetes.

"This disease, it has a face," she said, gesturing toward her daughter, who sat alongside her. "There are millions of kids who are affected by Type 1 diabetes, and they didn't get a choice in it."