North country health experts blast Senate GOP health care plan
Structurally similar to its House counterpart, the American Health Care Act, which was passed in early May, the
Like the
Unlike the
"Any cut is going to be severe, It's a very concerning time,"
Administrators at
"The cuts to Medicaid in particular are galling," she said in a release. "Today, Medicaid serves one in five Americans -- not only the poor, but two-thirds of those in nursing homes, more than 30 million children, and countless individuals with disabilities. To end the Medicaid expansion created under the Affordable Care Act is a cruel joke, as is the blatantly partisan attack on women's health by defunding
"
Like the
Coverage requirements states may be able to opt out of include maternity care, mental health services and emergency services, offering instead an "essential health benefits" plan. Money not spent to subsidize such services would be, in part, used to fund those extensive tax breaks for affluent Americans, who have been taxed more under the ACA to help support Medicaid's expansion.
Even several Republican senators have criticized the bill, saying it doesn't do enough to address the growing opioid crisis.
"It is absolutely incomprehensible that in the middle of this unprecedented opioid epidemic,
An estimated 2.8 million Americans suffering from addiction have been covered under the ACA, and 1.3 million are currently receiving addiction and mental health treatment under the Medicaid expansion.
"Cutting Medicaid for these people is equivalent to condemning them to death,"
In 2016,
Many people who struggle with addiction also suffer from a coexisting mental health disorder.
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In the last seven years, the rate of uninsured adults dropped from 24 percent to 8 percent in
"On the surface, this plan is saving money for someone, but at the end of the day, it's going to cost much more. If our clients go untreated, costs to food pantries and home assistance go up, justice and criminal system costs go up and it's a huge strain on all social services,"
"The impacts of this are all negative, there's no positive,"
Local officials in the north country continue to support Republican healthcare reform plans, especially considering the Faso-Collins amendment remains in the
Introduced by
"It will be a significant relief to property taxpayers," said
The cost shift has become more enticing to local officials in the last few days as well, as state legislators have not yet come to an agreement that would renew county sales tax rate extensions. If state lawmakers hold off approving a final agreement on those extensions until late in the year, counties may be forced to devise budgets that don't account for millions of dollars in sales tax revenues used to offset Medicaid costs.
"It is ultimately
Before the Affordable Care Act's expansions, Medicaid coverage was limited mostly to children, very low-income parents, pregnant women and people with a qualifying disability. Individuals with disabilities, who have long relied on the program, may be disproportionately affected by funding cuts.
"We are a talented, capable population making many contributions throughout the north country. We are employed as peer counselors; we provide benefits advisement to help other people with disabilities return to the workforce; we work in libraries; we are lawyers, retailers, gunsmiths and more,"
"It would be a huge detriment for this entire population of people to exit the community because we could not afford health care coverage or our coverage no longer covers the services we need."
"The wonderful part of the American system is that every person has the right to talk to our elected officials, who need to hear from those most affected by these cuts, people who will feel (losing their insurance) firsthand,"
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