As I write this article, AM Tuesday, 6/27/17, my wife Beth is on a bus. No - she is not "escaping" from my current status as a blogger and activist in a political rage at the Trump act in the Beltway.... She is on Route 95 traveling south toward DC in the company of an upstate contingent from PLANNED PARENTHOOD to participate in yet another march against the insanity in the Beltway. This time, the Trumpers are on the brink of a US Senate vote to adopt a great leap BACKWARD that will deny health care to 22+ million Americans by next year, 2018. Someone has to STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! AND, MARCH ON! On this day, that someone is PLANNED PARENTHOOD - a non-profit provider that has faithfully served millions of women and children across the US for decades and, for many families - especially in rural areas - is often the only healthcare provider within reach. On another day, the person who needs to STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION is YOU!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch in New York, organizing and information sharing continues. Last
night I attended a "forum" on the impact of the proposed Senate Health Care Bill on residents of NY state. The devastation will be substantial, with deep impacts, and wide-spread. I should note here that the ACA, otherwise referred to as Obamacare, which gave each state the option to expand Medicaid to cover those families of modest means but did not qualify for standard Medicaid, resulted in a 50% reduction of New York residents without health insurance and access to health care when the Cuomo administration opted into this new opportunity . Health insurance enrollment increased from 136,000 (2013) to 1,033,000 (2016). New York's "Essential Plan" made insurance available to 665,000 working class residents. In addition, some 142,000 received tax credits due to lower income status which infused some $400,000,000 a year in federal tax credits to lower premium costs. Another 9,000,000 New Yorkers also benefited from the ACA through the provisions that required that insurance companies carry the children of insured up to age 26, that those with pre-existing conditions could not be denied coverage or charged more, and that insurers could no longer impose annual or lifetime limits on coverage. The result is that rates for Individual Commercial Insurance are 50% LOWER IN 2017 THAN THEY WERE BEFORE THE ACA ($1500 a month for the Platinum Plan (2013) to $700 (2017). New Yorkers saved MILLIONS in premium charges. And, then came Donald Trump on a promise to "repeal and replace" Obamacare with a new system that would cover "everyone at lower costs and with better coverage." With "no cuts to Medicare, or Medicaid, or Social Security", the Donald took an oath and made that campaign pledge over and over again throughout the election cycle. Working families, worried about their economic futures, took him at his word, and narrowly elected him President. And, then came Executive Orders, lies, tweets, and broken promises - often the absolute reverse of his campaign promises.
Disturbing images of disabled voters in wheel chairs and on ventilators being dragged out of the Senate Office Buildings and the Halls of Congress appeared in media reports as the Senate assembled in DC to prepare for a vote on a bill that would strip coverage away from 22,000,000 Americans according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office analysis released yesterday (6/26/17). I should note there that most severely disabled folks, unable to earn a living, are covered by Medicaid for their health support as are 70% of those seniors in nursing homes. Nursing home residents, having exhausted their personal financial resources on medical care over time,likewise, are dependent on Medicaid for their care. Medicare does not cover nursing home care. The Senate bill strips away some $800 billion from Medicaid funding over 10 years. Further, the Trump budget proposes yet another $600 billion in reduced Medicaid spending over the same period. Although the proponents of the legislation - with extraordinary magical thinking - argue that the states will somehow "become more efficient" or will "innovate" to provide care for those 15,000,000 who will be denied coverage in the first year (2018), simply replacing the billions that are on the chopping block with state-raised taxation just isn't tenable, especially in the near term.
Like the House bill, described by Trump as "mean" after celebrating the House passage in the Rose Garden, the Senate legislation will devastate New York state. Medicaid funding will be sharply reduced, private insurance will cost more, financial assistance for lower income New Yorkers will be reduced, women's access to reproductive health care will be threatened, and funding for the NY "Essential Care" program (Medicaid funded) will disappear. 15,000 residents will lose access to financial assistance, tax credits will be substantially decreased, and older individuals would need to spend more of their household income to buy health insurance rather than pay housing costs or other living expenses. Welcome to Trumpcare......
The NY state impacts would be devastating. Over $7 billion will be cut over the next 4 years, impacting more than 6 million residents. The bill would cover fewer benefits, permit charging higher premiums for age and gender profile differences, and permits waivers allowing states to deny "essential services" like maternity services, substance abuse treatment, prescription drugs, lab tests, and more that are presently covered. Immunization and funding for chronic disease prevention will shrink along with funds for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and tobacco cessation. In addition, public health funding would be immediately at risk along with clinics, emergi-centers, non-profit rural providers, and hospital service expansions that followed increased health care demand fueled by the ACA. Obviously, when 20 million folks attain health care coverage, care visits will increase. Just as obvious, when 22,000,000 are removed from the rolls, care visits will decrease, preventive care will diminish, and unfunded emergency room visits will increase. Clinics and small rural hospitals will contract or close, and non-profit services - especially in rural areas - will disappear.
Those are the reasons that the American Medical Association (AMA) yesterday joined AARP, American Cancer Association, the Diabetes Association, the American Nurses Association, and other advocate groups in opposing the proposed replacement for the ACA. In a letter to all US Senators opposing the Senate Bill, the American Medical Association stated that the ACA repeal as proposed - with cuts to Medicaid, and changes to subsidies and regulations - violates the Hippocratic Oath made by health care providers, to "first, do no harm." The AMA called upon the Senate to "change the course of the current debate and to work to fix problems with the current system." The letter suggests that the "Congress should be working to increase the number of Americans with access to quality, affordable health insurance instead of pursuing policies that have the opposite effect..." The AMA letter goes on to say that, "it seems highly likely that the changes will expose low and middle income patient to higher costs and greater difficulty in affording care."
And, why do Speaker Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and Donald Trump want to inflict this pain on the American people? A campaign promise to repeal Obamacare? Or, is all of this the result of the behind-the-scenes, man-behind-the-curtain - TAX CUTS! Does this legislation - House or Senate bills - make health care insurance more available to more people at less cost as candidate Trump promised? Or, save Medicaid from cuts? Nope.... Does the $900 billion in savings go to reduce the federal deficit? No sir.... So, then, what is the benefit? Who benefits? THE BILLION DOLLARS IN "SAVINGS" GOES TO PAY FOR A MASSIVE TAX CUT FOR THE 1% WEALTHIEST AMERICANS ($700 BILLION) AND TAX RELIEF FOR SOME CORPORATIONS FOR HAVING BEEN REQUIRED TO PROVIDE HEALTH INSURANCE ($261 BILLION). Isn't it time to stand up and be counted?
THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN.....
Letters and phone calls are good..... but, right now, not enough..... The time has come to MOVE!
STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! MARCH ON!
Bobby J
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