FAYETTEVILLE — Everyone is entitled to health care, according to Hershey Garner, a physician at Highlands Oncology Group.
Garner was among a group of panelists who spoke about the Affordable Care Act on Saturday during a health care forum at the Arkansas Union.
The event, dubbed The Truth About Obamacare, was sponsored by the Northwest Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus, the Arkansas Democratic Hispanic Caucus and the Kappa Upsilon chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.
At A Glance
Health Care Changes
The extension of Medicaid and the implementation of the health care exchange in Arkansas would:
• Qualify 16,755 adults between the ages of 18 and 64 for Medicaid in Washington County and 16,565 for exchange subsidies to purchase insurance
• Qualify 13,266 adults between the ages of 18 and 64 for Medicaid in Benton County and 15,969 adults for exchange subsidies to purchase insurance
• Save the state $372 billions between 2014 and 2021.
Source: Staff Report
“It’s less important to me where we were and where we are than where we’re going,” Garner said. “Health care ought to be a right in the wealthiest nation in the world. How it grows is up to the people on the national level.”
Maria Baez de Hicks, vice president of the Hispanic Caucus, said Saturday’s forum was the first of many informational events planned to provide information on the Act, which aims to reduce the gap between what participants in the same insurance coverage group pay.
“There’s a lot of negative and untrue information out there,” she said. “We want to give you information on the law as it pertains to you.”
Other panelists included Shaundra Jones, a pharmacist at Target; Dr. Ornette Gaines, medical director for the Community Clinic; and J.P. Peters, member of the Obamacare implementation team in Arkansas.
State Rep. Eddie Armstrong, D-North Little Rock, moderated the event.
“In no way is this a platform geared toward any political agenda,” Armstrong said. “This is an informational forum that’s open to the community.”
Jones said she wanted to expel the myth that the Affordable Care Act is a government handout.
“This is for people who get up and go to work every day but they don’t make enough money,” she said. “The bottom line is that this is about saving lives.”
Gaines said the law means insurance agencies can’t turn people down or increase their premiums if they have a pre-existing condition.
“If you can, on a preventative side, start care, then people won’t have to spend as many tax dollars treating a chronic illness,” he said.
Peters said she wants people to contact their legislators and convince them to expand Medicaid.
As part of the law, the federal government will pay 70 cents per dollar paid for Medicaid benefits in exchange for expanding the program.
If the Legislature approves the Medicaid expansion, an additional 32,000 people in Washington and Benton counties would be eligible for Medicaid
“If we don’t expand Medicaid, your tax dollars will go to other states,” she said. “We need those tax dollars here in Arkansas.”