Sen. Heitkamp: Safeguarding Health Care for Families, Workers in Rural America Is Critical for Beulah-Hazen

HAZEN, N.D., July 7 -- The office of Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., issued the following news release:

Visiting with health care professionals at Sakakawea Medical Center, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today discussed how she will fight to make sure families and workers in rural areas like Beulah-Hazen are able to get quality, affordable health care. She talked about how the Republican health care bill would disproportionately hurt rural communities and advocated for a bipartisan approach to improve health care.

Following a tour of the new facility, which combines hospital clinic therapy and emergency care, Heitkamp sat down with health care leaders and staff who explained how crucial rural hospitals are to area communities because they provide ready access to a wide variety of health care services. But the Republican health care bill - which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and was then offered with some tweaks in the U.S. Senate - would put communities like Beulah-Hazen in difficult situations as rural hospitals would lose out as would local families and residents.

The bill would essentially end Medicaid expansion and drastically cut traditional Medicaid by 26 percent, which could put rural hospitals in the red. Many rural hospitals operate on thin margins as they work to maintain access to services ranging from 24-hour emergency care to outpatient therapy. The cuts to Medicaid could put hospitals like Sakakawea Medical Center over the edge. Without Sakakawea Medical Center and the wraparound services it provides - like opioid addiction treatment and transitional care - residents of Beulah-Hazen and nearby communities would have to travel distances to access care, which would also make it more difficult to keep workers in the area who help support the local economy.

To support North Dakota's communities, Heitkamp reinforced the need for bipartisan solutions that protect North Dakota's rural hospitals and populations. She has been leading her colleagues in the U.S. Senate in calling for legislation that creates more certainty and coverage protection for North Dakota families. The effort builds on her work since 2013 on a variety of proposals to make the health reform law work better for families and businesses.

"Across North Dakota, rural communities like Beulah-Hazen count on rural hospitals to keep families and local economies strong and healthy," said Heitkamp. "Sakakawea Medical Center's new facility combines essential health services that are close by and easy to access, which will also help keep energy workers and families in the community over the long term. But the Republican health care bill would severely compromise that progress. The bill would put rural health care in jeopardy and hurt rural hospitals by ripping apart Medicaid, harming access to care in areas like Beulah-Hazen. Instead, Congress needs to work on bipartisan solutions that support affordable, quality care throughout our state, including rural communities. And I'm committed to fighting for policies that can help fix our health care system to make it better for rural families and workers for generations to come."

"As rural health care providers in communities like Beulah-Hazen, we know our patients - they're our friends, families and neighbors, and our concern first and foremost is to make sure they're cared for," said Darrold Bertsch, CEO of Sakakawea Medical Center and Coal Country Community Health Center. "Since the expansion of Medicaid in North Dakota, we've been able to do a better job - making sure more families can access the preventive care and services they need and reducing cases where folks put off treatment until their condition worsens to something more acute and more expensive. At our new facility, we've been able to do a much better job coordinating transitional care for patients - between the hospital, clinic, nursing home and the patient's home. That's why the Republican health care bill is concerning - when our patients lose coverage or access to care, our ability to provide needed services to our patient's and the community is compromised. I'm glad Senator Heitkamp is here today to talk about solutions to protect rural communities like ours, both now and in the future."

"When I think about coverage for my patients, I'm not just thinking about the millions of Americans across the country, I'm thinking about my patients here at home in Beulah-Hazen who depend on the care we provide," said Coal Country Community Health Center Medical Director Aaron Garman, M.D. "Too often, if our patients don't have insurance, they still show up at the emergency room - and it's a crisis by the time they get there. And their inability to pay raises bad debt, which can cause rural hospitals to close their doors. Our clinic provides medication-assisted therapy for opioid addition and other substance abuse regardless of their ability to pay, and without their ability to access assistance like Medicaid, many would be back on the streets perpetuating the problem. Instead of making sure we can prevent emergency situations, stop addiction and abuse from festering, and care for our friends and neighbors, the Republican health care bill would worsen the ability of rural communities to access and provide care. That's why it's great news for our area that Senator Heitkamp is not willing to accept that - and that she's committed to working toward a better solution to keep and improve care for all North Dakotans."

Earlier this week, Heitkamp visited Southwest Healthcare, where medical workers expressed concerns similar to those at Sakakawea Medical Center - that the Republican bill would disproportionately hurt rural health facilities and patients. Currently, a handful of senators are negotiating a backroom deal to overhaul the health care system without so much as a public hearing. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office issued a report showing the Republican health care bill in the U.S. Senate would rip away health care from 22 million Americans by 2026--including 31,000 North Dakotans who would lose private health coverage.

The Senate bill - which builds on the House-passed bill - would specifically impact rural communities by:

Hurting families who rely on Medicaid. The biggest savings in the bill come from severe cuts to Medicaid - the program would see a 26 percent cut in 2026. The bill would slash a lifesaving program that 90,000 North Dakota children and individuals with disabilities, seniors, and low-income families rely on for affordable, quality care. That includes 36,000 children in North Dakota. As a result, the American Hospital Association estimates that North Dakota Medicaid would lose $1.2 billion through 2026.

Making it more difficult for rural hospitals to stay open. The Medicaid cuts would also imperil rural hospitals, which have seen their amount of bad debt fall 45 percent due to Medicaid expansion, helping them keep their doors open and deliver care close to home for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.

Reducing jobs in rural communities. The North Dakota Hospital Association released a study showing that health care and social assistance account for one of every seven workers in the state. Medicaid reductions under the Republican health care bill would curtail those jobs and hurt economic growth, especially in rural communities.

Pushing costs onto older Americans, who tend to live in rural communities. Under the Senate Republican bill, in 2026, a 64-year old with an income of $56,800 would pay $20,500 annually for a silver-level health insurance plan -- more than one-third of his or her entire income. That's more than eight times what the same person would pay under current law, which is $6,800.

Enabling insurance companies to impose lifetime maximums on coverage. Such a change would make it unaffordable for many North Dakotans with life-threatening or long-term illnesses or disorders to get the treatment they need to live. Two out of three farmers and ranchers, like those that depend on Southwest Healthcare services in Bowman, have a pre-existing condition, like asthma, diabetes, or a chronic injury.

Taking away coverage for treating opioid abuse. The cuts to Medicaid would take away coverage from many North Dakotans seeking treatment for opioid abuse and addiction as it is the primary payer for opioid addiction and substance use disorder service, and it pays for over a third of all medication-assisted treatment.

Heitkamp has long said there are good pieces of the health reform law and parts that need to be fixed. Since 2013, she has regularly held her health care advisory board meetings comprised of health care leaders across North Dakota to talk about how to improve health care. Over the past three and a half years, she has offered many reforms to make the health reform law work better for families and businesses. Just last week, Heitkamp led 15 of her Democratic colleagues senators on the floor of the U.S. Senate in calling on Republicans to work with them to pass commonsense legislation to immediately provide certainty in the health care marketplaces and lower premiums for consumers.