GOP eyes far-reaching,
brutal health care changes
Jesus tells his disciples that “nothing that is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.”
Jesus wasn’t talking about the health care bill being written in secret by Senate Republicans. But his words contain a helpful warning all the same. At some point, this legislation will become known. If it is not revealed beforehand, with a full debate and examination of the bill’s provisions, it will be revealed in the lives of families and communities who have come to rely on protections for pre-existing conditions, assistance in paying for premiums, and access to basic health care benefits.
Consider the centerpiece of the emerging legislation: rolling back the expansion of Medicaid and capping its future coverage. While it’s still a secret whether these cuts will happen over seven years, five years, or even less, the cuts are coming. In Arkansas, that means almost 24,000 people will lose health insurance, with a million more Medicaid beneficiaries in line to suffer loss of access as the cuts take effect. Half of these beneficiaries are 20 or younger, and the program pays for almost 60 percent of Arkansas childbirths. Medicaid is also a critical funder for seniors in long-term care. Nationwide, some $800 billion will be cut from the program to finance a tax cut for the very wealthiest Americans.
Beyond Medicaid, people buying their own insurance or getting it from their employer look set to lose critical protections. Pre-existing medical conditions, which cannot be used to raise premiums under current law, will once again be subject to steep costs. That means that people who have had cancer, diabetes, asthma, or any one of a long list of health problems could find their insurance too expensive. And at the same time, the legislation is set to cut back the financial assistance available to people who buy their own insurance, especially seniors, people with expensive health conditions, and families with low incomes.
And with the state, like much of the country, in the throes of an opioid and heroin epidemic, the new legislation is set to cut coverage for drug treatment programs, both through Medicaid and private insurance.
[These changes] are far-reaching and brutal revisions of the minimum protections we rely on to raise our families with a little security, to help each other when we get too sick to pay for our care out of pocket, and to shelter our seniors when they can no longer care for themselves. Sens. Cotton and Boozman know these provisions can’t be defended. That’s why they’re not trying to defend this bill. That’s why this bill is a big secret. If they intend to serve the people who elected them, rather than the partisan interests of Congress or the lobbyists trying to influence them … they should have the courage to demand proper hearings and study and consider other approaches. If they are willing, they can put an end to the secrecy and the cruelty it allows, before we all learn the truth the hard way.
THE REV. CLINT SCHNEKLOTH
Fayetteville