Hufstetler, health care task force examining hurdles facing Ga.
A state Senate panel is hoping to draft legislation before the General Assembly is back in session in January.
The Georgia Health Care Reform Task Force will examine challenges facing providers and patients in rural areas during its next meeting, set for July 10.
District meetings on preventative primary care and mental health will follow.
Task force members — including state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome — are trying to craft a new foundation for the state’s health care system even as the U.S. Senate works to break a logjam on its overhaul of the federal program.
“Our intent is to have legislation ready in January for the Georgia General Assembly session,” Hufstetler said. “We will focus on what’s best for Georgia.”
On Sunday, President Donald Trump renewed his call to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement, if necessary. However, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price of Georgia said he believes Republicans will reach an agreement.
“We think that Leader (Mitch) McConnell and his senators in the Senate are working to try to get this piece of legislation on track,” Price said.
At least nine GOP senators expressed opposition after a Congressional Budget Office analysis last week found that nearly 50 million people would lose insurance over the next decade, compared to 28 million under the ACA.
Price said negotiations over the Senate bill are directed at ways to address Medicaid coverage so that “nobody falls through the cracks,” combat the opioid crisis and give families more choice in selecting their insurance plan.
The Senate has not taken up the House-passed bill, which would lead to an even higher number of uninsured people, according to its CBO score.
Late last week, GOP senators submitted two other drafts to the CBO for scoring over this week’s recess. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is pushing a conservative version that aggressively reduces costs by giving states more flexibility to create separate high-risk pools. The other seeks to bolster health care subsidies for lowerincome people.
“If the House and Senate don’t come to an agreement, it’s going to come down to waivers,” Hufstetler said.
Medicaid waivers allow home- and community-based treatment, waiving the requirement that the person be
treated in a clinical or nursing home setting.
Hufstetler said he believes the waiver programs passed in Indiana — when Vice President Mike Pence was governor — and Iowa are good models for Georgia.
“They’ve been effective in reducing costs and improving health,” he said.
When the eight-member Georgia task force under Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle meets in Tifton, they’ll first hear from Tift Medical Center about their ACO, accountable care organization, and what they’re doing with a new community grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Also on the agenda are presentations on telemedicine networks by a team from Emory University and recommendations from Dr. Keith Mueller, director of the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis at the University of Iowa.
Hufstetler said the session on preventative primary care would be in Rome, on Aug. 28. The task force’s last regional meeting, on mental health, will be in Gwinnett County.