Congressman Butterfield makes stop in Henderson to talk health care

Daily Dispatch, The (Henderson, NC)

Aug. 04--When Henderson resident Stephen Allgood was 25, he was healthy and didn't see the need for health insurance.

Now older in his mid 40s with health conditions that include diabetes and the need for more than 20 medications, Allgood sees the need.

"I wasn't expecting to get sick," Allgood said. "There's other people out there who's worse off than me, but I'm not in the best shape. Everybody needs health coverage -- everybody."

Allgood shared his concerns with Congressman G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., on Thursday.

Days after casting a dissenting vote to make changes to the Affordable Care Act, Butterfield, spoke to Allgood and patients in Vance County about their needs to access quality health care.

Butterfield, whose Congressional District 1 includes Vance, Granville and Warren counties, made a stop at Duke Primary Care in Henderson, as part of his Jobs and Justice Tour.

"There's one issue that every American has in common, and that is every one wants access to quality health care. I don't care who you are -- Democrat, Republican, Independent, black, white, brown, whatever you are -- if you're a human being, you want access to health care," Butterfield said.

Yet access to quality health care coincides with access to a good insurance policy, he said.

During his first term in Congress in 2004, Butterfield said an estimated 48 million Americans did not have health insurance.

Citizens paid hundreds each month and had high deductibles, copays and lifetime caps, he said.

When the Affordable Care Act passed under former President Barack Obama, the number of uninsured decreased to about 20 million, Butterfield said.

When it was originally created, Butterfield said younger citizens pushed back and didn't plan on getting sick.

"One day that 25-year-old is going to be 65 or 55 and they have some type of illness and they are going to need help," he said. "So it was paying into a pool, and that was the concept that we came up with."

The ACA is designed to also provide subsidies for low to middle income Americans, Butterfield said.

"The problem is a lot of politicians have begun to treat the Affordable Care Act as a political football. Does it need fixing -- it does," he said.

However he does not believe repeal or creating income tax credits less than the subsidies is the way to go.

When he cast his dissenting vote, Republicans passed approval to repeal the act on the House side of Congress on July 25.

Yet the Senate needed 60 votes to pass. Butterfield said Republicans tried to find 51 votes to pass the repeal act through a reconciliation process that would not appropriate new money.

Finding 50 votes, Butterfield said it appeared Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote.

When called to a vote for a "skinny repeal" of the the act at 2 a.m. July 28, Butterfield said Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, cast his vote.

"John McCain -- who's suffering from a brain tumor -- he walked in and walked up to the front and he said no, and that was the death nail for the repeal movement," Butterfield said.

Butterfield said there are some challenges to improve the act.

Insurance companies are raising costs of premiums, as health care costs increase, he said.

The hope is to reign in costs and create high risk pools, along with creative ways to lift burdens from the insurance companies, Butterfield said.

"We can do it if we leave politics out of the equation," Butterfield said. "If we approach health care reform in a bipartisan manner, we can stabilize insurance markets and making insurance premiums more affordable."

Another matter, Butterfield said, is Medicaid expansion.

The federal government offered 90 percent reimbursement to states, with 31 taking advantage and 19 -- including North Carolina -- did not, Butterfield said.

Medicaid provides assistances to families with low income families with dependent children, or the disabled and blind, he said.

However low income adults with no children are not covered by Medicaid, including 1.5 million North Carolinians and 100,000 in Butterfield's district.

Henderson resident Thaddeus Grissom is one of those adults.

At age 4, Grissom had a brain tumor and was able to remain on his parents' insurance until turning 26.

Now 28 and on a ventilator, his mother worries what would happen if health care access was denied.

"For a year and a half, he didn't have any insurance," his mother Shelby Grissom said.

It's concerns like Allford's, Grissom's and the doctors' at Duke who spoke to Butterfield about concerns they hear from patients, including prescription costs, that the congressman said he wants to know about.

"I care very deeply about health care and quality access to health care," Butterfield said. "This is why I've come today to say to the people at this facility thank you for what you do and let you know that we are not giving up. We are going to continue to fight the fight and try to expand Medicaid and continue to provide quality health care to this community."

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