Experts warn against health-care bills

June 29--PLATTSBURGH -- Two years ago, Darlene Imondi was diagnosed with cancer, but she has lived to tell her story thanks to numerous treatments and therapies -- all covered by Medicaid.

"If it wasn't for Medicaid, I wouldn't be sitting here right now," she said through tears during the recent North Country ACA (American Care Act) Repeal Roundtable at Clinton Community College.

The forum, organized by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office, was one of a series of events held across the state this week to discuss the impact the U.S. House of Representative's proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA) and the Senate's proposed Better Care Reconciliation Act would have in the state.

"Both those will put millions of Americans at risk," Megan Baldwin, assistant secretary for health at the State Executive Chamber, told attendees of the roundtable, where she served as host.

COVERED BY MEDICAID

She was joined by several panelists, including Imondi; local nurse practitioner David Curry of the State Nurses Association; Hudson Headwaters CEO Dr. John Rugge; Connie Wille, executive director of Champlain Valley Family Center for Drug Treatment and Youth Services Inc.; Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services Inc.; and Gail Meyers of the Statewide Senior Action Council.

If passed, the AHCA would leave 2.7 million New Yorkers without health insurance and cut $7 billion from the state's health-care system, according to data from the state.

These cuts would especially hurt those who rely on Medicaid services, Baldwin said.

In the North Country, she noted, one in three people covered by Medicaid is a child.

And 74 percent of nursing home residents; 24 percent of emergency room/clinic visits and outpatient surgeries; and 40 percent of baby deliveries are currently covered by Medicaid.

'VERY SCARY TIME'

In addition to sharply reducing Medicaid funding, Baldwin continued, both the House and Senate bills would increase the cost of private insurance coverage, reduce financial assistance for lower income New Yorkers and eliminate funding for the Essential Plan, which has made insurance available to 665,000 working-class New Yorkers.

"This is a very scary time for health care," Rugge said.

Hudson Headwaters, he noted, serves about 100,000 people, and of those, 9,000 have health insurance thanks to the ACA.

"These are the people at stake when Sen. (Charles) Schumer, Sen. (Kirsten) Gillibrand and Congresswoman (Elise) Stefanik make their votes in Washington," Rugge said. "They need to hear from us, and they need to know how important it is we have this kind of coverage."

OPIOID OPT OUT

Additionally, the $2 billion included in the Senate's repeal bill for combating opioid addiction is not nearly enough to address the problem, Baldwin said. And the legislation would allow insurance companies to opt out of providing addiction treatment.

"The opiate epidemic in Clinton County is real ... We've all witnessed the outcomes of untreated addictions," Wille said.

During 2016, she said, 65 percent of clients receiving outpatient addiction treatment services through Champlain Valley Family Center were either Medicaid recipients or covered by Medicaid Managed Care.

And if the Senate bill is passed, about 40 percent of those served by the center would have no health-care coverage, according to Wille.

"Obviously, this has the potential to devastate client services (and) reduce treatment options," she said.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

Both the House and Senate bills would also prohibit federal reimbursement, including Medicaid payment, for services provided at Planned Parenthood, according to Baldwin.

"Folks will tell you they're taking the high moral ground and this is about abortion, but it's not," Curry said. "It's about all the services that Planned Parenthood offers, which includes contraceptive services and men's health and LGBT.

"There's lots of folks who get their care from Planned Parenthood who are not just pregnant woman.

"This attack was done behind closed doors, as we're all aware, by 13 rich white men. No women."

'UNAFFORDABLE'

In addition, Meyers fears the bills, which would make it possible to charge higher premiums based on age and gender, would result in poverty for many senior citizens.

"When we talk about the age tax, that is people who are under Medicare eligibility, so it's people who are under 65, who are not disabled, who do not have Medicare, who are purchasing their insurance on the exchange," she explained.

And the House and Senate proposals, Meyers said, will make their premiums unaffordable.

"That's bad," she said. "But what's also bad is that when they come into Medicare, when they age into Medicare at 65, they're coming in in worse shape, they're coming in sicker, they're coming in using the health-care system more. "

"And basically, just to sum it up," Baldwin added, "all of this is being done to provide a massive tax cut to the top 1 percent of the wealthiest Americans."

'CHANGE HEARTS, MINDS'

She encouraged forum attendees to share information with others, contact lawmakers to advocate against the bills and sign Cuomo's "Fight for Quality Health Care" petition.

"We need to change the hearts and minds of folks locally as well," Plattsburgh Town Supervisor Michael Cashman said from the audience during the event's question-and-answer period.

This issue is not about a political party, he said, "this is about the health of our society, our people, our friends, our neighbors, our family."

And it's not an issue that will simply go away, Cashman continued.

"It will come back over and over and over again unless the groundswell of us demands more and better," he said. "That is your responsibility.

"If you do not take it upon yourself to carry this message and your individual message to at least one other person, you have failed."

Email Ashleigh Livingston:

[email protected]

Twitter: @AshJLivingston

PETITION

To sign Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "Fight for Quality Health Care" petition, visit https://tinyurl.com/y73hxek2.

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