Will Rep. Bergman, GOP, dismantle Obamacare?

What would an Obamacare repeal mean for rural residents of Michigan’s 1st Congressional District?

Photo caption: Congressman Bergman, flanked by House Speaker Paul Ryan (left) and State Rep. Larry Inman (right).

“I campaigned on repealing the ACA (Affordable Care Act),” first-term Congressman Jack Bergman told the Glen Arbor Sun last month. “I intend to work hard to keep that promise.”

On Monday Bergman reiterated his support to Interlochen Public Radio that he supports the current Republic healthcare effort, which is expected to be voted on Thursday.

Bergman has said that vulnerable Americans wouldn’t lose their coverage.

“The bottom line is that people who had pre-existing conditions are still going to be covered. People who have children on their healthcare until age 26, that’s gonna continue.”

But a study earlier this month by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office revealed that the GOP plan, if it passes, would cut 24 million off health insurance by 2026, while saving $337 billion.

Here in Michigan, a Jan. 12 Bridge Magazine report showed that more than 11 percent of citizens in Bergman’s 1st District are enrolled through the ACA, making it the most vulnerable congressional district in Michigan were Obamacare to be repealed. In all, 900,000 Michiganders could lose coverage if the ACA is repealed, the Daily Kos blog reported on Jan. 2.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder this week warned Congressional Republicans of the harm that an ACA repeal could cause to rural Michigan residents who would lose coverage.

Snyder’s overture to members of his own political party doesn’t appear to have swayed Bergman or most in Michigan’s Republican Congressional delegation.