Valley woman raises concern over Trump’s plan to repeal Obamacare

There’s a lot of anticipation tonight about health care and what’s ahead, as President-Elect Trump takes the oath of office tomorrow.

According to the California Health Care Foundation, 1.4 million Americans are insured by the Affordable Care Act and more than 20,000 of them are living in the Coachella Valley. According to recent reports President-elect Trump says he’s putting the final touches on a new health care plan. Meanwhile, Keeley Level, a recovering pancreatic pre-cancer patient says she’s living in fear. “If they take this away, I won’t be able to have CTs (computerized tomography scans) to see if the spot comes back. I won’t be able to afford the medication. I won’t be able to pay for it, so I’ll be left out in the cold,” Level said. During the presidential campaign, Trump promised he would introduce a health care plan to cover everybody. “I will not allow people to die on the sidewalks and the streets of our country if I’m president,” Trump said. That’s a promise Level doesn’t believe in — “I know they think they’ll come up with something better, but I don’t have trust. This president-elect has led me to not believing in him or trusting him. To take away my coverage would be catastrophic, catastrophic,” Level said. While Level relies on the Affordable Care Act, other people say they are ready to see change. “My insurance remained the same. It’s just the cost went up exponentially. The terrifying thing — if a family were on a budget, how do they cope with these rising costs? I think that’s what Trump’s after and this administration, to make it affordable and make it consistent, and that would be amazing,” Scott Strader, an Indian Wells resident said. Trump has said in the past he will not cut Medicare and his administration will negotiate with drug companies. Nonetheless, Level questions her future. “What do I do? Do I sell this place and move down to Mexico ’cause I won’t have any health care and he [husband] won’t have health care? But I won’t do that cause this is my country too and I will fight to the very end,” Level said.