Thread: US hospitals oppose Trump-backed health bill

US hospitals oppose Trump-backed health bill

9 March 2017
From the section US & Canada

A leading trade group representing hospitals has expressed fears about the Republican healthcare bill, saying poor Americans could lose insurance.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) said current provisions for "our most vulnerable" would be thrown into doubt.

President Donald Trump met lawmakers on Wednesday to rally them behind the bill, after a stormy 24 hours.

Moderate Republicans are concerned people will be stripped of cover, while conservatives sense federal overreach.

The bill, called the American Health Care Act, would replace the signature law of President Barack Obama, so-called Obamacare.

It would:

limit future federal funding for Medicaid, which covers low-income people
abolish the requirement that everyone should be insured
replace subsidies with tax credits

Overall, the plan is expected to cover fewer people than those who gained insurance under the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act, but we will not know the exact numbers - or the cost - for about another week.

It has gone before two congressional panels ahead of its passage through the House and Senate.

The House Ways and Means Committee approved the bill along party lines on Thursday morning. The chamber's Energy and Commerce committee is still debating it.

What did the hospitals and doctors say about it?

The president of the AHA, which represents about 5,000 hospitals and health networks, said in a letter to Congress that the ability to assess the bill was "severely hampered" by the lack of a proper estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.

But the plans for Medicaid "will have the effect of making significant reductions in a programme that provides services to our most vulnerable populations", Rick Pollack wrote.

In a separate letter, a large doctors' group, the American Medical Association, also urged Congress to reconsider reducing insurance for the poor.

The AARP, a lobbying group for older Americans, has opposed the plan too, saying funding for the Medicare insurance programme for the elderly could be cut.

Who is speaking up for the bill?

House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the bill as "a conservative wish list" and "monumental, exciting conservative reform."

"This is what we've been dreaming about doing," he told reporters.

President Trump campaigned on repealing Obamacare, which he says has suffered from rising premiums and a lack of choice.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the president was "in full sell mode".

As well as convincing Americans, he has to first persuade sceptics in his own party.

Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress, but it is unclear if they will get enough votes to get the bill through.

The bill will be "dead on arrival" at the doors of the Senate, said Kentucky senator Rand Paul.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39214165

Well, I understand why they would be opposed because it limits future growth in Medicaid monies, it doesn't cut anything, but puts a cap on it for the future. These caps are good as is making the states more involved with the block grants, because it encourages states to increase employment and wages to reduce the number of people on Medicaid and Expanded Medicaid because of low earnings. This is good for our cause too because it means states will be in big trouble if they don't stop importing low wage labor and poverty people who can't sustain themselves through massive illegal and excess legal immigration. Most states, I think all of them, have to balance their budgets every year so they will have to increase employment and wages to do that.

Policies that grow, cause and perpetuate poverty must be reversed.

They don't like because under the current system hospitals cannot deny medical care to anyone and under the new healthcare plan they would not receive federal funding and will have to cover these cost themselves

That's right. 80% of US hospitals are 501 C 3 "charities". To maintain that tax exempt status they are required to provide at least 17 to 18 percent of their services for free. So please someone tell me how 80% of our US hospitals that are 501 C 3 "charities" could ever meet that obligation if "everyone is covered" with insurance, especially Medicaid which is 100% coverage?

I'll just bet they do not want a change.

I don't know everywhere, but in Texas, large hospital corporations are gobbling up smaller hospitals and the doctors have to more or less become an employee - rather than an independent doctor.

It costs my husband $140 to have his blood pressure checked so the doctor will write a new prescription. It was about $50 before the hospital got control.

I'm not expecting much from this overhaul and neither is one huge hospital corporation I am aware of. It is building and building. It looks to have doubled the size of the already huge hospital - and still building.

aka pass the costs onto American citizens by charging us more while they expand for illegals and their huge amounts of anchor babies - the higher costs will also cause more out of pocket payments too.

Bilk seniors by "not admitting" but keep in "informal admittance" so the seniors get a bill for $$thousands - yes, that happens everyday! Medicare not paying for that trick. But Medicaid pays for everything an illegal wants. Even if that is relocated to "states" in the future who do you think will be paying for their state to do that?

Hospitals charge the highest prices for services such as routine visits, specialist, testing; they are a large entity with huge overheads, but will cut the bill drastically for an insurance company, NOT FOR YOU, even if you are paying cash. And they will sue you for monies owed, destroy your credit, lien your property unless you are an illegal and oh well....guess that will continue under ryan's obamacare 2.0....which will include the tens of thousands of central american "children" as they bear anchor babies - "exploding with babies 2.0"...

Get rid of all from south of the border here in our country illegal or by excuse of "fear" in their own countries. Sorry but go home, we will help you out there. With obama gone maybe our huge amount of monies to your countries will be properly utilized instead of being useless.