Constituents ignored

I am an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Kentucky and a pediatrician at Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Many of the families I care for have a medical home for their children only because of the Affordable Care Act. These families now live in a state of uncertainty as they face potential loss of that coverage.

Although many members of Congress recently returned to their districts to explain their agendas for the new legislative session, neither U.S. Rep. Andy Barr nor Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul scheduled open town hall events. McConnell hosted a small number of ticketed events with limited access, while Barr hosted small events in Mount Sterling and Richmond, but none in Lexington, despite the fact that 40 percent of his voters live in Fayette County.

Both Paul and Barr held press conferences in Washington, where they declared that repeal and replacement of Obamacare would be the centerpiece of their efforts in Congress. Yet neither will provide any open forum for constituents.

More than 500,000 Kentuckians gained health insurance through the ACA, which puts our state among those most affected by the law.

Why won’t our representatives come to Lexington and tell us what they have planned? This law is too important to our state not to engage us directly.

This story was originally published March 31, 2017 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Constituents ignored."