'Tuesdays with Toomey' protests continue

The U.S. Senate decided on Tuesday to wait until after the July 4 holiday to vote on its health care bill.

Officials say right now Republicans don't have enough votes to pass it.

Protests in front of Sen. Pat Toomey's downtown Pittsburgh office have become a weekly event over the last several months.

But protestors believe this might be their last chance to get the senator's attention before a vote on a new health care bill is held.

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Around 100 protestors gathered outside Toomey's office in downtown Pittsburgh, calling on him to oppose the Senate health care bill that would overturn key provisions of Obamacare.

If passed and signed into law, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will decrease the federal deficit by more than $320 billion.  Twenty-two million people could lose their health insurance.

"The bill is actually quite cruel in a number of ways,” said Theresa Brown, of Point Breeze. “I've seen the kind of trauma that not having health insurance can create for people and I really don't want to go back to that world."

Toomey authored a section of the bill.

His office released a statement to Channel 11, saying in part, “Now is the time to replace Obamacare with a system that makes care more affordable and accessible. Senator Toomey has noted numerous times that any Senate health care bill will ensure no one will lose their federal Medicaid eligibility, and no one currently covered by Obamacare will have the rug pulled out from under them."

Protestors in Pittsburgh say Toomey's support for the bill won't sway them from trying to make their voices heard.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced he will delay the healthcare vote until after Congress' July 4th recess.

Pennsylvania's attorney general wrote a letter to senators Toomey and Bob Casey about the health care proposals.

The letter warns against cutting funding for the opioid crisis, which killed 4,642 Pennsylvanians last year.

Attorney general Shapiro says the Senate plan would roll back efforts to give 175,000 substance abuse treatment programs.

Cox Media Group