McKinley meets with health care officials to discuss effects of possible Obamacare repeal

Dec. 14--President-elect Donald Trump laid repealing and replacing Obamacare on the table, and Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., came to Morgantown on Tuesday to talk with healthcare leaders abut changes on the horizon.

McKinley met with officials from Monongalia Health System and Cornerstone Care -- a nonprofit network of community health centers -- at Mon General Hospital.

Darryl Duncan, president and CEO of Mon Health System, said after the meeting that McKinley gave them a preview of the phase-out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). They also discussed Mon Health's teaching health center and graduate medical education programs -- programs intended to get more primary care doctors into communities that need them.

"He's very good about getting down to the heart of issues and ... how to address those things back in Washington," Duncan said. "We're very pleased with the relationship we have with him."

They learned that the ACA won't simply be dropped. It will be funded for a transition period of two to three years. "We don't know exactly what that's going to look like."

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McKinley reviewed a few of the ACA's -- called Obamacare by most -- problems. Among them, the individual mandate, with a penalty viewed by the Supreme Court as a tax, and the soaring costs of healthcare.

He mentioned one woman who works for a small company of 12 to 15 people and makes $15 an hour. Her ACA insurance carries a $1,200 monthly premium (half her monthly income, before taxes) and a $12,000 deductible. "You tell me that's right."

Congressional leaders expect to repeal the ACA by early February, he said. With the planned transition, "The consumer will not see any difference."

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga. and Trump's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, will be charged with formulating the framework of the new health system, McKinley said.

Price will likely use his own bill, HR 2300, the Empowering Patients First Act, as the basis.

An 11-page summary of the act, provided by McKinley, shows such features as refundable tax credits for health insurance coverage; health savings accounts with a one-time, $1,000 tax-credit incentive; health insurance pooling mechanisms for individuals; small business Association Health Plans that cross state lines; and an interstate health insurance market.

"There's going to be some interesting components of it," he said. "I feel pretty good about it."

Leaders aim to make passage a bipartisan affair, McKinley said. "We're not going to ram something down as they did previously."

McKinley said he doesn't yet know what a Trump presidency will look like. "I think he's going to shake things up and he's going to bring more businesses sense to Washington," Instead of more of the same.

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