ACA debate stirs concerns among poor

March 13--There's uncertainty in Washington D.C. regarding both the American Health Care Act (ACA) and the future of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare to many, lawmakers and Congress are still undecided on what aspect of Obamacare and what to keep with the new proposed health plan.

The concern here locally isn't so much the nuts and bolts of the proposed changes but simply who will lose coverage.

Linda Judah, Social Welfare Board executive director, said potentially even more people could lose coverage under the American Health Care Act.

"So what this new proposed system has on us as the Social Welfare Board, I fear it's going to drastically increase the number of patients we serve because in the end there's going to be less people on Medicaid and Medicare. Missouri has the lowest threshold in this nation anyway of being eligible to even apply or qualify," Judah said.

The ACA is a set of proposed congress bills published released last week that are intended to replace Obamacare. The bills potential effect on health coverage has yet to be determined or sorted out.

Last year, the Social Welfare board served 6,200 patients which translated into 21,000 visits.

This proposed American Health Care Act honestly there are so many unknown factors the health care system is such a tightly woven intricate system as it is," Judah said.

Dr. Jay McMillien, Social Welfare clinic medical director, said that he believes that health care is a right for all Americans. Accessibility isn't the same as having coverage he said.

"It's very important to understand that access to health care does not equal coverage for health care. An equitable system which we should be trying to get to is coverage for everyone," Dr. McMillen said.

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