Rep. Norman will hear from Fort Mill patients. What will they say?

U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., will speak with dialysis patients at 10 a.m. Monday at Fort Mill’s DaVita Dialysis Center.

Norman, who was elected earlier this summer to the U.S. House of Representatives, is touring South Carolina’s 5th District on a listening tour before the Congressional recess ends in early September.

Norman will meet with patients and their families to hear about the “benefits of integrated care for kidney patients,” according to DaVita. The congressman will hear stories about the care needed for patients living with end stage renal disease who require dialysis to survive.

DaVita says Congress will consider many important public policy issues impacting kidney care and patients in South Carolina. Norman campaigned for his Congress seat on a promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.”

A Senate bill that would strip away most of that law failed last month to gain enough Republican votes to pass.

Norman told The Herald he is looking forward to returning to Washington, D.C., to work with his colleagues on a new replacement bill.

“I haven’t talked to a person yet who is happy with their insurance,” he said. “They can’t afford their premiums, and God help them if they get sick.”

This story was originally published August 12, 2017 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Rep. Norman will hear from Fort Mill patients. What will they say?."