Healthcare providers who serve underprivileged populations joined Congressman Tim Kennedy and other elected Democratic leaders outside the Neighborhood Health Center Monday morning, urging the White House and Republican-led Congress to reopen the federal government, and spare millions of Americans the consequences of Medicaid cuts.
The gathering happened on what was the sixth day of a federal government shutdown. Republican and Democratic leaders remain at odds over healthcare provisions including the extension of tax credits in the Affordable Care Act. The parties continue to blame the other for the onset of the shutdown, and Kennedy on Monday said it was up to Republicans, who hold the House, Senate and White House, to act toward ending the shutdown.
“The American people are demanding affordable health care. This is a crisis that's entirely preventable. Republicans need to come back to Washington, work in a bipartisan fashion, cancel the cuts, make life more affordable for working families, and protect health care in America, and they need to do it now,” Kennedy said. “Congress needs to stop families from being pushed over the health care premium cliff and protect our most vulnerable neighbors. We need to make life more affordable for working families in this country.”
Meanwhile, local providers and their patients say healthcare funding cuts and rising costs are greatly and adversely affecting them.
“What happens to people when they end up uninsured? Do they not need health care? Absolutely not. They need it, but they make tough choices, and along the way, the tough choices usually are waiting until things are worse,” said Joanne Haefner, CEO of Neighborhood Health Center. Local
Among those speaking at Monday’s gathering was Iris, a local resident who spoke of the burden created by rising co-pays amid healthcare cuts.
“Things have happened to us, like going to urgent care and they're being co-pays, and us being turned away because we don't have the co-pays,” she said. “To my daughter being diagnosed with some medical issues, there's co-pays for every time she has an appointment or any testing that has to be done. That's also affected us in many ways, where it's gotten to a point where she might be hospitalized because of it, and there's co-pays for that as well.”
Other healthcare leaders present included Raymond Ganoe, president and CEO of Evergreen Health. He says fiscal uncertainty has led his organization to scrap a five-year strategic plan. He’s concerned about Evergreen’s ability to serve its estimated 30,000 patients.
“This impacts not only potential funding streams for it and sustainability for the future, but our ability, because we do so much of what's under attack right now, to fundraise for that, because people are nervous, you know, to give you money for things like diversity and inclusion, and trans care, and everything that we as evergreen health care so much about.”
If and when federal lawmakers should extend tax credits under the Affordable Care Act remains a holdup. An estimated 24 million who are uninsured through their employers or a public program like Medicaid use ACA to purchaser their health plans.