Forum on health care is Monday

June 16--Community members confused or curious about how changes in national health care policies could affect Kentucky will have an opportunity to hear from and ask questions of experts.

Concerned Citizens for Healthcare will host a health care forum at the Owensboro Community & Technical College on Monday with three speakers specializing in different aspects of health.

The presentation will cover statewide changes under the Affordable Care Act, economic and health outcomes, proposed changes in the American Health Care Act and a question and answer session.

Dustin Pugel, research and policy associate at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, will help explain the economic and budgetary impacts the ACA has had in Kentucky. Pugel studies economic and human service reports and writes about impacts government policies have on Kentuckians for the center.

He said he hopes to clear up misconceptions people might have about health care policies and help draw focus to some effects on Kentucky that might be overlooked.

"People like to focus on the insurance exchanges when they talk about the ACA, but they only cover about 81,000 Kentuckians," Pugel said "The real story is with the 469,000 people covered by the Medicaid expansion."

Pugel has appeared twice on the PBS program Kentucky Tonight to discuss health care and economic policy with doctors and legislators. He has seen a spike in requests to speak about health care policies since the 2016 election and thinks legislative efforts for repeal has sparked more interest than ever in the ACA.

With hopes that people can become more engaged with government decisions, Pugel said he will try to help Kentuckians find the answers to their concerns at the forum.

"If people can walk out of the room and be able to describe accurately what their legislators are doing, I'll be happy," Pugel said. "I want to help them have these tough conversations with their friends and neighbors about their choices."

Attendees will be able to learn about the role the ACA and AHCA will have in the lives of low-income Kentuckians from Cara Stewart, health law fellow with the Kentucky Equal Justice Center. Stewart has a Juris Doctor degree from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University and has represented low-income Kentuckians in various situations.

Local doctor Andrea Moore of Women's Pavilion will also speak on the effects the ACA has had on her and her patients. Moore has been a shareholder of the medical practice since 2002.

The forum will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the OCTC Advanced Technology Center Room 107 at the community college on New Hartford Road

Jacob Dick, 270-228-2837, jdick@messenger-inquirer.com,Twitter: @jdickjournalism

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