Locals worry AHCA may lead to horrors

Bill lets states waive patients with pre-existing conditions

A day after the U.S. House approved a Republican health-care reform bill, Central Floridians were left wondering how it would affect them.

“I’m thrilled that they’re trying to do something. I’m just not sure what it means,” Deborah Graham, a practice manager for Orlando Urology Associates, said Friday. “I don’t have faith that they’ve actually talked to doctors, other providers and practice managers. … we’re the engine, the doctors and the medical staff.”

The legislation, which was passed on a tight 217-213 vote, still has to get through the U.S. Senate.

President Trump has said the Affordable Health Care Act will lower premiums and deductibles, but opponents of the bill worry that many will lose their insurance and coverage would get more expensive for low-income individuals.

“The AHCA would shift $7 billion in Medicaid costs to Florida over the coming decade,” said Joseph Pennisi, executive director of Lake Mary-based Florida Policy Institute, in a news release. “Further, since this bill allows states to waive protections for pre-existing

conditions, Floridians with cancer, diabetes and asthma could be denied life-saving health care coverage.”

Florida has a lot at stake; more than 1.7 million people in the state have signed up for a plan in 2017, once again leading the nation in the number of people who picked a plan in the federal health insurance marketplace.

More than 130,000 people in Orange County enrolled in a plan this year, up from 121,000 in 2016 and 109,000 in 2015. The number of enrollees also increased between 2015 and 2017 in Lake and Osceola counties. The only county that saw a drop was Seminole, where enrollment dipped from 37,000 in 2016 to 36,500 in 2017.

The lead local marketplace navigator, Anne Packham, said she doesn’t foresee Obamacare going away immediately because it would take time to implement any new plan that’s passed.

She and her team of volunteers are continuing their work, as they did last year, providing training, education and signing up individuals who qualify for the special enrollment period which is going on right now.

“We’re just getting more people coming up to us saying, ‘We heard that Trump has canceled [Obamacare],’ or, ‘Why are you still doing this?’ or, ‘Isn’t it going away?’ ” Packham said.

Her response: “From our viewpoint, nothing has changed, and nothing new has been implemented. [ACA] is still law of the land. It’s up to you if you want to take advantage of this program.”

For some consumers, Obamacare has been a lifesaver. Or at least that’s how they see it.

“All I know is that as long as there’s health care that’s affordable, I’ll be OK. My premium is under $20 a month and that’s my max,” said Andrew Buis, 27, who has had insurance coverage through the federal marketplace for two years with monthly premiums between $7 and $10. “I can’t do anything more than that.”

Buis was diagnosed and treated for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder when he was almost 26 years old and still under his parents’ health insurance.

“It was a breath of fresh air to be able to have medications that would stabilize me,” said Buis, who’s taking courses at Valencia Community College to become a radiologist and works in show productions at concerts and conventions.

Under the Obamacare provisions, Buis stayed on his parents’ health insurance until he turned 26. After his birthday — and a moment of panic — his girlfriend’s dad connected him with a navigator who helped him sign up for health insurance in the federal marketplace.

So would he care if ACA is repealed or replaced, or if the new health law bill becomes law?

“All I know is that if I lose my insurance, I won’t be able to keep my life together,” he said. “It was a total difference when I started going to the doctor.”

Meanwhile, in these uncertain times, Marni Stahlman, president and CEO of Shepherd’s Hope free clinics, is one of the few players in the health-care world who has certainty.

“The effect for us, ACA or not, is that we’ll keep treating people without health insurance,” she said.

With Central Florida’s high poverty rate, low wages, growing population — and nearly 35,000 uninsured children — Stahlman knows that even in the best scenarios, there will be people without health insurance who will need free care.

“One [law] could mean more patients versus less for us, but we’ll continue to do what we do,” she said.

Sure, Obamacare isn’t perfect, she said, but it’s not terminal either. It just has “a bad case of bronchitis,” she said.

“There are glitches. But the problem is like anything else, nobody wants to sit down and treat the patient. They just want to chop off the leg,” said Stahlman.