Health leaders: Care would suffer if ACA repealed

Feb. 24--PLATTSBURGH -- Melissa Staley has three main concerns about a potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

"The effect on our patients, the effect on my work and that of my co-workers and the effect on our community," said the certified nursing assistant, who works on the nursing home floor of the University of Vermont Health Network, Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital.

CVPH President and CEO Stephens Mundy and Mark Spadafore, local coordinator for 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, joined Staley for a joint press conference Friday morning in the Plattsburgh hospital's board room.

Dozens of hospital workers attended the event to hear about the possible local impact if the Affordable Care Act -- and funding that comes with it -- disappears away without a replacement in place.

"Repealing without replacing will cost New York about $4 billion annually," Mundy said, citing a statistic provided by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.

That includes a possible loss of $595 million worth of federal funding that goes directly to the counties.

If the counties are committed to maintaining services that come from that source, he said, "their only choice is to find other tax revenues to offset the loss."

FUNDING LOSSES

Spadafore said the press conference and other efforts are targeting upstate Congress members.

According to an 1199SEIU press release, Congress's plan to repeal without a replacement in place "would threaten the economic viability of the health-care institutions that serve our communities and cause 30 million hardworking Americans to lose health-care coverage."

Statistics from the Governor's Office show 2.7 million New York state residents would be left without coverage and that hospitals statewide could lose up to $2 billion in funding annually.

North Country hospitals could lose up to $26 million in funding each year.

Spadafore said 1199SEIU would not want the Affordable Care Act to be repealed and replaced.

"However ... if you're going to replace, you have to having (certain) things in place."

CVPH and caregivers urged Congress to oppose the plan and instead support one that would neither cut Medicaid and Medicare funds nor eliminate affordable health-care coverage, the release said.

MORE WITH LESS

Staley feels that if Congress goes forward with repeal, care provided to those who need it the most will suffer.

"If they cut funding, I don't know how some will get the vital care they need to become well again."

The hospital would be forced to do more with less due to staffing cuts, she continued, and some proposals would discourage people from going into the health-care field.

"The North Country is close-knit; we look after each other."

Staley urged people to call 1-866-426-2631 "and tell your members of Congress, 'No cuts to health care.'"

'STILL GET SICK'

Mundy said you can't disagree with reports that show what needs to be fixed with the Affordable Care Act.

"But getting rid of it without replacing it would devastate the health-care system, not improve it," he said.

In Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties, an estimated 16,500 people would lose their health-care coverage.

"Those people still get sick," Mundy said.

The hospital CEO said he has had many conversations with representatives and commended Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-Willsboro), saying she has assured him her support is fully behind repeal and replace.

Mundy encouraged those gathered to reach out to both their national and state representatives to voice their concerns.

AFFECTS ALL

Mundy said repeal of the Affordable Care Act would still affect people who do not directly receive their coverage through it.

"If you take funding from ACA programs, you're going to have less resources to provide."

Dramatic increases in insurance premiums could also result, he added.

At this stage, the hospital does not have specific plans in place on how to react to changes, since those remain unknown, Mundy said.

"We promise to find out. We still have accountability to our patients."

Staley, who has worked in health care for almost nine years, worries about both her patients who are covered through Medicaid and Medicare and the few who self-pay.

Cuts in funding would directly impact the former, she said, and the already astronomical costs for the latter would increase.

NEW DOCTORS

Mundy mentioned a couple of programs the hospital is investing in.

Thanks to a grant from the State Department of Health, the CVPH Family Medicine Residency, aimed at increasing the number of primary-care physicians in the North Country, will expand from four residents each year to six in July 2018.

Mundy said 2,100 applicants vied for the four July 2017 spots, and almost 100 were interviewed to fill them.

"On the behavioral-health front, many people need services," he continued.

The hospital and other local providers are working together on a plan to bring eight new psychiatrists to the community.

"How do you sustain those efforts if (funding) all goes away?" Mundy asked.

"I hope we never have to find out."

Email Cara Chapman:

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Twitter: @PPR_carachapman

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