TEMPERATURES RISE OVER GOP HEALTH CARE PLAN
Regional reaction to the Republican health care plan that would replace the Affordable Care Act has risen to fever pitch. The local and state response has come from many corners of the health care industry, politicians, and newly formed, as well as established, watchdog groups. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, voted as a member of the House Budget Committee to advance the Republican plan, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says would result in 24 million Americans losing health insurance.
The committee vote was 1917. In a statement Faso said that he and the committee’s majority voted to “approve a procedural step for the American Health Care Act. “The American Health Care Act now heads to a fourth committee and, likely, the floor of the House for a full vote,” Faso said. “During this time I will continue to carefully review the legislation and gather input from constituents, providers, and insurers about how this reform plan will affect them.” Before that vote took place, Ulster County Executive Michael Hein issued an executive order requiring creation of a report on the likely impact if the Affordable Care Act is repealed under the GOP plan. A public forum hosted by Dr. Carol Smith, the county’s health commissioner, is set for March 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the Legislative Chamber of the Ulster County Office Building in Kingston. “We know that national Medicaid expansions enabled through the Affordable Care Act resulted in millions of individuals acquiring insurance who otherwise could not afford it,” Smith said in a press release. “And while health insurance remains costly, a repeal of the law threatens to cause real harm to our most vulnerable residents, who under recently proposed legislation would see an increase in their share of out-of-pocket insurance costs.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, already announced that a state Department of Health analysis of the GOP would put the health care coverage of more than one million New Yorkers in significant jeopardy. “Health care is a human right, not a luxury,” Cuomo said in a statement. “After seven years of progress under the Affordable Care Act, the Republican Congress has proposed an inadequate, ill-conceived and unacceptable plan that places the coverage of more than 1 million New Yorkers in jeopardy and, once fully phased in, would shift more than $2.4 billion in costs onto taxpayers and hospitals each year.” But that kind of bluster was not evident in the words expressed by two top executives with health care providers. Both spoke with an air of caution, given the fast-moving and, probably, changing legislation. In a brief statement, David Scarpino, who is president and chief executive officer of HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, which operates two hospital campuses in Kingston, took a measured tone about the fate of Obamacare repeal and GOP-backed replacement. “We would be concerned about any federal cuts that affect safety-net hospitals, such as cuts in Medicaid reimbursements, because of the frag-
ile financial condition of those institutions, including ours,” Scarpino said in an email.
In an interview, Health Quest Chief Financial Officer Gary Zmrhal said he believes the reform process needs to be slowed. Among other facilities, Health Quest operates Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck and Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie.
Zmrhal also said more focus is needed on the “underinsured,” not just the adequately insured and the uninsured.
“There should be no hurry,” Zmrhal said. “I don’t know why they are rushing into this thing when it is so important to the country . ... ”
“They should take one step at a time,” Zmrhal said.
Under Obamacare, Zmrhal said, people can find insurance with “cheaper premiums,” but there is a downside.
“We now (have more people insured), but (many of them) are woefully underinsured and, when they get sick and got huge bills, guess what? They couldn’t pay and who is left holding the bag? The doctors and hospitals, “Zmrhal added, noting that this drives up costs.
The healthcare debate has also stirred the formation of grassroots
groups, including one called the 19th Congressional District Health Care Providers.
The providers’ group includes caregivers such as physicians, psychologists, licensed social workers, and a few physicians assistants, according to Dr. Barbara Chatr-aryamontri, a group founder. A New Paltz resident and a specialist in pulmonary and sleep medicine, Chatr-aryamontri said the group has scheduled a March 31 meeting with Faso.
“We are very concerned about the direction health reform is taking and the implications on communities,” Chatr-aryamontri said in an email. “Many local folks will lose their health coverage, which is tragic in itself.”
Chatr-aryamontri said the explosion in health care costs was ignited by insurance companies.
“Despite the new health care reform (being) advertised as one to cultivate a free market, there is really no free market as the present health care insurance companies have the monopoly and there is no capping on their pricing (Humana and Aetna were just stopped in their attempt to become a super corporation),” Chatr-aryamontri wrote.
“This is one of the main reasons why health insurance premiums are going up, but not many people are aware of this,” she added.
In a telephone interview, Chatr-aryamontri said repeal
of Obamacare could have the same results as the economic collapse of 2008, when people could not afford, or lost, insurance and did not seek medical attention.
“When there was the recession in 2008, the medical profession suffered a tangible loss of patient volume and that drove us into the red,” Chatr-aryamontri said.
When insurance became affordable, those same people “finally” came back for medical care, but their conditions had worsened over a period of time, Chatr-aryamontri said.
“Maybe they didn’t take the high-blood-pressure medicine, they didn’t take (anything) for their asthma, or COPD, or sleep apnea, and now they are worse,” said Chatr-aryamontri, who added those patients are now in a “high-risk” pool.
Other established activist groups, such as Citizen Action, which maintains a presence in Kingston, also have taken stands.
Before the House Budget Committee vote on Thursday, New York Citizen Action Director Karen Scharff said that Faso would have to choose sides.
“Congressman Faso will have to decide whose side he’s on this week,” Scharf said. “Will he vote to give billions in tax breaks to insurance CEOs and the super-rich, or will he protect our health care?”
After the vote, Citizen Action of New York responded again.