One of original Obamacare architects here at Premier Health event

Dayton Daily News (OH)

Feb. 23--Dr. Don Berwick is a pediatrician by training, and he has grave concerns about the health of his former boss' baby -- the Affordable Care Act.

Berwick -- a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barrack Obama -- said Congressional Republicans efforts to rollback or repeal Obama's signature achievement will undoubtedly lead to worse health outcomes for those who lose coverage, and higher costs for patients and health care providers.

As one of the law's original architects, Berwick, now CEO for the Institute for Health Care Improvement, said he is unimpressed with a House proposal to overhaul Obama's signature achievement by drastically reducing federal payments to states like Ohio that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the law, and shifting more of the cost for private plans purchased on insurance exchanges to individuals and families.

"If you look at it, it won't work because it's mostly takeaways," said Berwick, who will be the keynote speaker tonight at an event sponsored by Dayton-based Premier Health at the Schuster Performing Arts Center downtown. "All the calculations show it won't work. You're going to get lots of people who have inadequate coverage."

While Congressional Republicans' latest proposal doesn't give estimates of the number of people who would gain or lose insurance under their proposed overhaul, reducing the pool of those covered by the health care law -- including nearly 1 million Ohioans -- undercuts the concept of providing health insurance for everyone, which would set back the progress that has already been made toward that goal.

"When you look at the law, what it did was two basic things: It put a lot more people into insurance. The other thing it did was change insurance itself. Before the Affordable Care Act, you weren't covered for a lot of preventable things, now you're 100 percent covered."

Premier's President and CEO Mary Boosalis said President Trump's plans to repeal and replace portions of the law not only imperil the health of those who now have coverage but also the ability of health care institutions' ability to provide care, especially hospitals like Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, which cared for a disproportionate number of the uninsured in the area before the health care law was implemented.

"Whether it's the under-insured or those with no insurance pre-ACA, we are the safety net," Boosalis said. "So what happens or does not happen with this issue is critical to this community."

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