I appreciate Rep Paul Graves and Jay Rodne, from Legislative District 5) holding town halls in their district on Saturday.

I was frightened however at their blatant and willful misrepresentation that the effects the proposed dismantling of Medicare and the Affordable Care Act will have on their constituents.

They artfully performed a bait and switch by suggesting that block grants will make Medicare better by giving states more “flexibility.” However block grants are not insurance coverage. Over time, the funding diminishes and the program withers.

It is a plan to kill Medicare as we know it. There is no promise of care, there is no promise of a minimum ‘basket of services’ that has to be provided at an affordable price.

A single accident can bankrupt a family for life. This is not right.

Try buying insurance when you are 64. The proposed repeal of the ACA charges older folks five times as much as others.

More than anything the proposed changes are a massive tax break for those already well off. Block grants are not an insurance program. Vouchers are not insurance.

“Flexibility” means fewer people will have health insurance. “Freedom” means a tax break for the rich.

I want to live in a state and nation where both health care and K-12 education are adequately funded, not starved at the altar of “no new taxes.”

Mark Joselyn

North Bend