Local health care providers warn of ripple effect of Obamacare repeal
They also see the potential for unintended and unwanted consequences, voicing concern that the changes will raise costs for doctor-training and worsen crowding in emergency rooms.
And it could hit
"We feel the legislation could be devastating," said
Every major health care provider in
The leaders of
They expressed concern that the changes would strip people of their health insurance, "either through prohibitively high premiums for people with pre-existing conditions, elimination of the Medicaid safety net or forcing patients into severely underfunded high-risk pools."
They also noted that medical education and biomedical research represent central components of the region's economic recovery and that potential cutbacks that stem from the legislation will pose a challenge.
The head of the
"In its present form, the American Health Care Act would leave tens of millions of Americans without health coverage; eliminate essential protections for older and sicker patients, including those with pre-existing conditions such as cancer; and cut billions from Medicaid, which helps our most vulnerable patients -- children, the disabled, the poor and the elderly,"
Similarly, cancer center officials and cancer-related groups have expressed serious reservations or opposition to the
Johnson, Roswell's CEO, said that while she doesn't view the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, as perfect, the foundation of the bill was good and worth revising rather than dismantling.
"This legislation does not advantage cancer patients," said Johnson, who is troubled by what she sees as potential rollbacks in support for clinical trials, prevention programs and such insurance protections as requirements to cover pre-existing conditions and essential health benefits.
Details of the
The
In addition, the bill that passed in the House allows states to opt out of major insurance requirements in the Affordable Care Act, including those that define what benefits must be covered and that ban charging people with pre-existing conditions higher premiums if their coverage lapses.
Supporters say the bill will eliminate the taxes and regulations in Obamacare, and increase competition in health insurance. But there have been conflicting descriptions about the evolving details.
For hospitals, nursing homes and other health care providers here and elsewhere, the repeal effort follows steady growth in health care jobs and a decline in the rate of the uninsured since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010. The potential changes to Medicaid pose significant risks to the finances of institutions, which have come to rely on the funding, and the availability of care to people in a program that touches lives in many different ways.
Of the approximately 80 million Medicaid enrollees, 43 percent are children, 14 percent are disabled or blind and 9 percent are elderly. Medicaid pays for more than 60 percent of nursing home residents and nearly half the births in
Officials from UB,
"
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