Health care panel: Tell Sen. Daines to oppose health care bill

Phil Drake
Great Falls Tribune

HELENA — A panel of health care providers told nearly 40 people at a forum Thursday to let their U.S. senators, specifically GOP Sen. Steve Daines,  know they oppose a Senate health care proposal that would replace and repeal the Affordable Care Act, cut funding for Planned Parenthood and hurt Medicaid expansion.

Panelists at a health care forum sponsored by the Montana Nurses Association at the Lewis and Clark Library in Helena said Democratic Sen. Jon Tester already had come out against the proposal by Senate Republicans and that they should concentrate on Daines.

"Tester is not the issue,” John Goodnow, chief executive officer of Benefis Health System, said. “It’s just an issue in Montana for Sen. Steve Daines.”

Daines has said he has not made up his mind on whether to support the bill known as Better Care Reconciliation Act. A spokeswoman for Daines said he remains undecided on the Senate health care bill until he sees a final proposal and gathers more comment from Montanans.

“There are three things I’m looking to see in the Senate health care bill: we need to reduce premiums and make health care more affordable for Montana families, take care of those with pre-existing conditions so that they have access to care and save and protect Medicaid for who it was originally intended for: the most vulnerable in our society,” Daines said via email.

Goodnow was among six panelists discussing the Senate proposal and health care in Montana.

“As you know, this is an important discussion not just for those of us in the room but for many Montanans,” said Sheila Hogan, director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

She said Montana has seen the number of uninsured residents dip from 20 percent to 7.4 percent since the Affordable Care Act was enacted and Medicaid expansion approved for Montana.

Vicky Byrd, executive director of the Montana Nurses Association, speaks Thursday at a health care forum as Dick Brown, president/CEO of the Montana Hospital Association looks on.

She said under the GOP Senate plan, 22 million Americans will lose coverage.

Goodnow said it would be miserable to not have health insurance.

“It’s really benefited a lot of people in Montana and would be a horrid thing to take away,” he said.

Goodnow said the No. 1 problem with American health care is that it is too expensive.

“I agree the Affordable Care Act has issues, but you can go in and fix the issues without throwing out the baby with the bathwater and stop coverage for 22 million people,” he said.

The proposed Senate bill also would reportedly cut the federal deficit by $321 billion over the next decade. That is nearly triple the reduction, $119 billion, in the House bill.

Under the House bill passed in May, an estimated 23 million people would become uninsured.

Moderate Republicans criticize it as overly harsh in kicking people off insurance rolls, shrinking the Medicaid safety net and increasing premiums for older Americans.

Critics of the Affordable Care Act say premiums have increased and restricted access to providers. President Donald Trump frequently refers to the act as “a disaster.”

A report released recently by the Montana Healthcare Foundation found if the Senate’s version of the health care bill is enacted, Montana’s Medicaid program could lose $5.3 billion in federal funding. It also claimed that more than 75,000 adults enrolled through the recent Medicaid expansion could lose coverage as early as 2021.

Critics also say it would cap federal spending to all 216,614 Montana Medicaid recipients, including 96,846 children and 19,085 people living with disabilities; endanger financial solvency of rural hospitals, threaten funding for women’s preventative health services, including cancer screenings, annual exams, and Planned Parenthood of Montana's continuation in the Medicaid program and threaten protections for Montanans with pre-existing conditions.

Vicky Byrd of the Montana Nurses Association said as a patient advocate she has seen the difference the Affordable Care Act has made.

She said the fight against the Senate bill was for the people who “seek the care they deserve rather than what they can afford.”

She said Tester has given them support to oppose the bill, but Daines hasn’t.

Dick Brown of the Montana Hospital Association said the Affordable Care Act, known commonly as Obamacare, has made a huge improvement in access to health care in Montana.

He said if cuts are made to Medicaid it will be up to the Montana Legislature to fill the gap. Brown said lawmakers could decide where to take the money from “or let things go, which is disturbing.”

Laura Tyrell of Planned Parenthood said Daines did not support Planned Parenthood.

“This bill is the worst bill in a generation for women’s health,” she said.

 A spokeswoman for Daines said he wants to redirect Planned Parenthood funding to community health clinics, noting Montana has 17 such clinics.

Dr. Todd Wampler, a family practice physician who practices at St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena, said since Medicaid expansion hit Montana in 2015 the hospital has seen patients come in that it has never seen before.

“There are great things that we can do for people but you have to get them into the system first,” he said. 

He said he would not want to see the Affordable Care Act repealed without a viable replacement.