Health care groups concerned about proposed Obamacare replacement

March 12--BLOOMINGTON -- Illinois' largest health care system is opposed to the proposed Affordable Care Act replacement, while other health care organizations with operations in McLean County are expressing concerns and worry that recent coverage gains could be reversed.

"Advocate (Health Care) is opposed to the American Health Care Act in its current form," Meghan Woltman, Advocate vice president of government and community relations, said in an email to The Pantagraph on Friday. The American Health Care Act is the proposed Affordable Care Act replacement being debated in Congress.

While based in the Chicago area, Advocate includes Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal, Advocate Eureka Hospital in Eureka and Advocate Medical Group offices throughout Central Illinois.

"We are particularly concerned that this bill will significantly reduce coverage for the 21 million Americans who became insured through the Affordable Care Act (ACA)," Woltman said.

Meanwhile, Central Illinois Republican congressmen supported the legislation while Illinois' two Democratic senators and left-leaning activists criticized the bill.

The legislation would keep the ACA, also known as Obamacare, protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions looking to buy insurance and would allow young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26.

But it would repeal the requirement that people must buy health insurance or face fines.

The bill also would get rid of tax credits that many low- and middle-income Illinoisans used to help buy insurance on the exchange. The amount of the tax credit depended on a person's income. The new bill would give people tax credits based on their ages.

The bill would also no longer provide a federal match for people on Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and disabled that is paid for by state and federal money. Instead, the bill calls for giving states limited amounts of money. The plan also would allow people who gained coverage through Medicaid expansion -- a part of the ACA -- to keep that coverage through 2020.

Of the Medicaid changes, Woltman said, "In Illinois alone, the coverage of more than one million Illinoisans is in jeopardy."

"Our message to Congress is clear," Woltman said. "Our first priority is to protect access to coverage for Illinoisans. If the bill does not achieve that, we must recover the funds to be able to care for patients who will otherwise be uninsured."

"My reaction is mixed," said Cathy Coverston Anderson, interim director of the McLean County Health Department. While she appreciates that people with pre-existing conditions and young adults would continue to be covered, reducing the tax credits would mean that fewer low- and middle-income families would be able to get the health insurance they need, Coverston Anderson said.

Medicaid changes would also reduce the number of Medicaid beneficiaries.

"Due to ACA provisions allowing Medicaid expansion, 4,499 more McLean County individuals gained Medicaid coverage in 2014," said Coverston Anderson. That's one of the reasons the number of McLean County residents without health insurance dropped from 21 percent in 2013 to 8 percent in 2015, she said.

"From a public health point of view, we want people to have access to health care for prevention and treatment," Coverston Anderson said.

The bill also cuts public health prevention funding, which could affect programs combating obesity, tobacco use and infectious disease outbreaks, she said.

OSF HealthCare CEO Kevin Schoeplein said OSF did not have sufficient information to offer a position on the bill. But OSF referred to information provided in January that included an acknowledgement that the ACA, despite its flaws, provided greater access to those who could least afford health care.

While Chestnut Health Systems has taken no position on the bill, "the statewide trade associations that we engage (with) have expressed great concern about the proposal as drafted, believing that it will diminish access to both primary medical and behavior health services for low-income individuals served by organizations such as Chestnut," Chief Operating Officer Alan Sender said.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, said, "There is no question that Obamacare is failing ... We, as legislators, have an obligation to the American people to repeal and replace this failed law with a patient-centered system that allows for more competition and provides better access to care at lower costs."

The draft of the American Health Care Act is "a step in the right direction," LaHood said.

U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and Adam Kinzinger, R-Channahon, also supported the legislation.

But U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Democrats, said the bill would cost millions of Americans their health insurance while increasing costs for middle-class Americans.

"It gives big tax breaks to the wealthy and cuts benefits for lower-income people," said Linda Unterman of the Stand Up for Social Justice group.

"I see it as a failure," said Jodie Slothower of Voices for Reason. "It would benefit 0.1 percent of the population who would get tax breaks rather than the millions of people who need health care."

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Follow Paul Swiech on Twitter: @pg_swiech

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