Eau Claire (WQOW) - There was no shortage of politicians looking to weigh-in on the Supreme Court's Health Care Reform decision. That includes here in western Wisconsin.
Thursday's ruling was a major step towards healthcare reform, but many on both sides of the issue say changes need to happen.
"The costs keep going up and up and up," says Dianne Shane. She has a pre-existing condition. She has arterial fibrillation.
"That's on my record, so they hear heart problems... insurance companies don't even want to give you a quote," Dianne says.
But with Thursday's Supreme Court ruling, that can no longer happen, beginning in 2014.
"This is at least a step forward. I don't think it's a big enough step, I would like to add more to it, but at least we're going in the right direction," says Dianne.
Local lawmakers also say changes are needed.
"I'm one who has voted to repeal, but also replace it, I've put a bill out there that injects markets into healthcare, allows for competition across state lines, encourages price transparency, but also does some good things that Obamacare does, that is, to allow for pre-existing conditions to get coverage, to do away with lifetime caps, and to increase the age for our young Americans to get coverage," says Rep. Sean Duffy (R-7th District).
"I never believed the passage of the affordable care act was the end-all be-all when it came to all the answers within the healthcare system. It's not a perfect bill. But it's going to require all of us working together to figure out what works and what doesn't work, and to make adjustments along the way so we can continue to improve the quality of care that's given, increase the access of care to all Americans, while bringing the cost of care down for all Americans, and there are important tools now to this healthcare reform bill that will enable us to move forward in that fashion," says Rep. Ron Kind, (D-3rd District).
There is still a long 18 months ahead, before the healthcare reform is fully enacted. Many republicans have vowed to repeal the bill.
That includes Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who says he will repeal the bill if he's elected this November.
