Demonstrators protest future efforts to repeal Obamacare

AUSTIN,Texas - Obamacare is here to stay for now after Friday’s stunning defeat of the GOP’s Senate bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Still, plenty of folks in Austin worry they could lose their healthcare,
Demonstrators took to the streets downtown Saturday to speak out against any future repeal efforts.

Ben Weatherman who lost the use of his spine 12 years ago in a car accident said things could have been a lot worse for him he hadn’t had health insurance.

"It was hundreds of thousands of dollars of surgery and continues to be thousands of dollars in medication a year," said Weatherman.

Weatherman said he had good insurance back then but acknowledges a lot of people in his situation didn't until the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2010.

"I would be dead without Obamacare,” said Weatherman.

He and dozens of others showed up to Austin City Hall Saturday morning celebrating the defeat of GOP efforts to kill Obamacare.

At the same time, demonstrators warned that the fight isn't over yet.

"They're going to keep trying I think. They still have three and a half years. They’ve got plenty of time. I think they're going to keep trying,” said Colin Gray, a member of Democratic Socialists of America.

In efforts to ward off attempts to repeal Obamacare, demonstrators are showcasing the difference they said the health care act is making in so many people's lives.

"When there wasn't Obamacare, there wasn't the Affordable Care Act, people like me, the insurance companies just said, 'We don't serve your kind,' and they didn't and there was nothing there for us,” said demonstrator Stephanie Thomas.