USA TODAY US Edition

Talks in D.C. worry those getting care

Patients with chronic conditions fear loss of coverage if GOP overhauls Obama law

- Jayne O’Donnell

They have injured spines, costly cancers and risky conditions including epilepsy and diabetes. But what many people with chronic health conditions are focused on this week is taking place in Washington.

As they watch the Senate’s fastchangi­ng health care debate, they’re worried about whether they will still be covered and if their premiums will go up or down.

“The debate scares the hell out of me,” says Doug Hoffman, 55, a retired Minnesota police officer who says his health premium is his biggest cost.

Senators rejected a measure Wednesday that would have repealed major parts of the ACA, but that was scant relief to some of those with health issues. Senators can still amend a more basic bill in ways that pose particular risks to premium costs and coverage if they have pre-existing conditions.

A bill still under considerat­ion would eliminate the requiremen­t that people have insurance or that employers provide it. That would increase premiums by reducing the incentive for healthy people to sign up and make it harder for insurers to offset the cost of covering sicker ones.

If people aren’t required to buy insurance, any replacemen­t legislatio­n needs to have “strong incentives for people to obtain health insurance and keep it year-round,” the Blue Cross Blue Shield Associatio­n said in a statement Wednesday.

Without that, it would be impossible “to avoid steep premium increases and diminished choices that would make coverage unaffordab­le and inaccessi- ble, BCBSA said.

That doesn’t mean the current system is working either, ACA critics say.

“The individual mandate was supposed to force back into the market the young and healthy people that Obamacare has overcharge­d,” says Avik Roy, a freemarket health care expert who has advised presidenti­al candidates and other politician­s. “But that hasn’t happened.”

But for those who are currently ailing, the whole debate is worrisome.

Hoffman, a Republican, is worried that if both parties don’t work together, his premiums could go even higher. He retired because of a knee injury and isn’t eligible for premium assistance.

Other concerns: uMedicaid coverage. The fate of the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA and overall funding for the program remain uncertain. Conservati­ve Republican­s favor eliminatin­g the expansion that gave coverage to most people earning below poverty level in states that opted into it. More moderate Republican­s oppose cuts and support a more gradual phaseout of the expansion. uPre- existing conditions. Senators will have a chance to add amendments to any bill being considered, which could put guaranteed coverage for those with health problems in jeopardy.

“The debate scares the hell out of me.” Doug Hoffman, retired Minnesota police officer

 ??  ?? Doug Hoffman, 55, is a Republican and retired police officer worried about the fate of his already high health insurance premiums.
Doug Hoffman, 55, is a Republican and retired police officer worried about the fate of his already high health insurance premiums.

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