Cuts could raise premiums for 12,300 local families, officials say<\/p>\n
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., made a stop in Bend this week to put a spotlight on President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill\u201d and the impacts he says the bill will have on ordinary Americans trying to get health coverage.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Deschutes County Heath Services office in Bend along with local health care officials, Merkley said the bill will cause more Oregonians to lose state and federally supported health care coverage. He also warned of closures to rural health care clinics due to reduced funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big ugly betrayal decimates health care in order to help fund tax breaks for billionaires,\u201d said Merkley, creating an alternate name for Trump\u2019s bill. \u201cIt also runs up enormous national debt for the same reason, tax breaks for billionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merkley said it\u2019s \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d that the legislation reduces the tax credits in the health insurance marketplace for American families to find health care policies. Studies show that health insurance premiums will rise 18% on average in 2026. This could lead to millions dropping their coverage.<\/p>\n
Uninsured to increase<\/p>\n
Earlier this month Merkley was one of 16 senators to send a letter to the Center on Health Insurance Reforms, blasting Trump\u2019s tax and spending cuts bill, saying that the legislation will increase the number of uninsured Americans by 15 million, including seven million Americans who buy Affordable Care Act coverage on marketplaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cMillions more will pay higher health care costs no matter how they receive their coverage,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n
In Deschutes County, 12,300 families buy insurance through the exchanges. Merkley said these families can expect to see a $1,300 per year increase to the cost of their policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a shock that is coming in the near future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Merkley, whose wife is a retired nurse, said the loss of income to clinics and hospitals will also have impacts, especially in rural areas. He warned that many programs will need to be cut and some facilities are expected to shut down entirely.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s tax and spending law contains more than a $1 trillion in health care cuts, according to the Center for American Progress. Most of the cuts come from the federal and state insurance programs serving low-income Americans.<\/p>\n
Local officials echo concerns<\/p>\n
Holly Harris, the interim head of Deschutes County Health Services, echoed Merkley\u2019s concerns, adding that funding cuts could impact a swath of local health issues, including lower vaccination rates and unaddressed behavioral health problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all have big concerns about what is coming in the future in terms of our ability to provide the care we are used to providing in Deschutes County and the tri-county region. The impact to access is going to be huge for people who lose their insurance,\u201d said Harris.<\/p>\n
Harris said an increase in communicable diseases could occur in Central Oregon due to the funding cuts and expected reduction in vaccinations. Contact tracing could also be impacted, she said. And she worries about costs associated with uninsured individuals seeking care.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ability to prevent conditions from worsening is going to be impacted and the ability for service providers to absorb that work without being reimbursed for it is going to be a huge challenge,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Mark Hallett, chief clinical officer for St. Charles Health System, told Merkley the loss of funding will worsen preventative care. Important medical procedures will be delayed or deferred, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeart attacks happening instead prevented. Strokes happening instead of prevented. Complications with diabetes and other chronic diseases,\u201d said Hallett.<\/p>\n
Hallett added that St. Charles is active in ending so-called \u201cpharmacy deserts\u201d and is worried that the goal of increasing access to pharmacies in rural areas will be disrupted by the funding cuts.<\/p>\n
Red tape<\/p>\n
Merkley said other provisions in the bill won\u2019t have immediate effects but could be felt two or three years from now, after the 2026 mid-term election. He described increased red tape, including the need to reapply for the Oregon Health Plan, Oregon\u2019s version of Medicaid, every six months, instead of the current two-year cycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intention of that is to make it hard for people. To make people continually drop off because they don\u2019t get the paperwork completed,\u201d Merkley said. \u201cIt also adds a lot of expenses to the state to monitor employment and monitor work requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill mandates work requirements for Medicaid recipients between 19 and 64 years old for them to maintain coverage. Recipients need at least 80 hours per month of work, community service or education to qualify, with exceptions for dependents and those with disabilities. Supporters say the bill\u00a0targets inefficiencies in state-administered programs.<\/p>\n
But Merkley said the bill will \u201ctrap people in poverty\u201d because some people with medical issues may not be able to work but also won\u2019t qualify for insurance to seek care and get better.<\/p>\n
Around one third of Oregonians are on the Oregon Heath Plan. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people in Oregon will lose insurance in the process of cost cutbacks and red tape, said Merkley.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a huge impact on the quality of life of 200,000 Oregonians,\u201d said Merkley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cuts could raise premiums for 12,300 local families, officials say U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., made a stop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-100756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}