Yesterday, Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse Testified at the House Ways & Means Oversight Hearing on Behalf of the American People. Watch Clips Here. Read the Written Testimony Here.
Trump and congressional Republicans can’t hide from the health care crisis they cooked up. They ransacked over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to bankroll tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. Then they ripped away the tax credits that over 22 million Americans relied on for affordable coverage.
As a result, hospital leaders like Edward from New Hampshire are forced to make impossible decisions to stay financially afloat, like shutting down community clinics. Nationwide, nearly 900 hospitals, maternity wards, nursing homes, and other critical providers like Edward’s have shuttered, are at risk of shuttering, or have cut essential services to balance their budgets. Floridians like James have had their premiums soar from $57 to a jaw-dropping $1,690 a month. Across the nation, there are millions of James facing gut-wrenching decisions like choosing between keeping a roof over their heads, putting food on the table, or paying budget-busting prices for the care they rely on to stay alive and healthy. Here’s what experts and those trapped in the GOP’s health care crisis are saying:
Colorado
Erin Jones, 31, Fort Collins
- “Erin Jones, a 31-year-old food policy researcher living in Fort Collins, Colorado, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma as a young adult, is now cancer-free but still sees two oncologists, visits a high-risk breast clinic, and gets a breast MRI annually. Jones gets health insurance through the university where she works, and said she recently deferred acceptance to a PhD program partly due to uncertainty over affordable coverage. ‘I don’t have the freedom to do the things I want to do as easily,’ she said, ‘because I am constantly worried about health insurance.’” [KFF Health News]
Veronica Montoya
- “I do think that waits will be longer, and you probably won’t get as much time with your doctor. They’re going to be inundated,” said Montoya, who suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis, a disease that attacks the spine, diabetes, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and long COVID. “I hope that they will not have to lay off any employees.”
- “‘It’s devastating too that our state doesn’t even have the money to help with this,’ said Montoya. She works as a licensed real estate broker. She said she’s preparing to deal with a lot of paperwork to meet work requirements that were part of last year’s Medicaid cuts. ‘This is a big stressor. And stress when you have autoimmune disease is your biggest enemy,’ she said.” [Colorado Public Radio]
Justin Cornell, Denver
- “‘I think 14 months of looking, I’ve probably put in somewhere around close to 2000 applications, and I’ve had a couple dozen interviews and nothing,’ said Medicaid recipient Justin Cornell, 43, of Denver. Cornell, who is currently unhoused, said he has been kicked off Medicaid about four times in the last seven years. Even with an advanced education, he said he mostly has relied on temporary gigs and food deliveries for income.”
- “‘If you were to walk into just about any shelter in any city at this point, you would discover that most of those people are working,’ he said. ‘They’re usually working more than one job, and they’re just not making it. It’s not someone who is lazy, because you can’t get on these programs and not put any effort into it.’” [MS Now]
Florida
James Digilio, 62
- “‘I was paying, last year, $57-a-month premium. And then it jumped up this year to $1,690 a month. When I first saw it, I was surprised. I thought this was a mistake.’
- “James relies on medication to manage his blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. Since losing his insurance, he started rationing his medication. ‘I was concerned about the medications, not knowing how I was going to refill them. I figure if I could stretch it out and not take them for a week or so, then that’s another week I could tack on that I could still stretch it out to.’”
- “Today, the clinic refilled over a month of medication for free. The clinic may have met his immediate health care needs, but what worries James is where to go for anything more serious and how he’d pay for it. ‘If I had affordable health care, my life would be easier. It would be more relaxed and I could not have to be stressed about the insurance and hopefully also medications.’” [New York Times]
Georgia
Dr. Ben Spitalnick, Savannah
- “Dr. Ben Spitalnick, a Savannah pediatrician, said the premium hikes presented a budget crisis for some of his patients’ parents. ‘I know patients who, this year it’s doubled for them,’ Spitalnick said. ‘It’s insane to consider having to drop your health insurance,’ he said. ‘If you’re, sort of solo employed or a very small business, and don’t have the comfort of either Medicaid or have a very large employer who has a large health plan, the exchange was a great option. Now it’s super expensive.’” [Georgia Sun]
Indiana
Edwina Billhimer
- “In all honesty, until Trump is gone, RFK is out, along with others who shouldn’t be anywhere near anything to do with Healthcare, we are screwed,” said Edwina Billhimer, a Medicaid recipient and registered Republican who lives in southern Indiana.
- “She’s the primary caregiver to her 39-year-old son Dennis, who had half of his brain removed following seizures. Her daughter Michaela was also diagnosed with EDS. ‘I feel hopeless. I am waiting for people like myself and my son, along with the elderly, people with cancer and other diseases to be put in camps or hospitals till we die,’ she said.” [MS Now]
Michigan
JJ Hodshire, CEO of Hillsdale Hospital
- “Rural hospitals in Michigan are bracing for impact as federal Medicaid cuts start to take effect. Last year, members of Congress voted to slash the Medicaid budget by $1 trillion over the next decade. Hospital officials in Hillsdale are making a plea for them to change their minds.”
- “‘We’re talking about issues of life and death. This isn’t any longer talking about politics, or who’s right on the left and who’s right on the right. This is talking about human lives,’ said JJ Hodshire, Hillsdale Hospital CEO.’ Hodshire is asking Congress to reverse the $1 trillion in cuts planned for Medicaid over the next decade.” [WILX]
New York
Kim Laine, Dryden
- “Cayuga Medical Associates spokespeople said services currently provided in Dryden will relocate to offices at the Shops at Ithaca Mall and in Cortland starting on May 4.”
- “Kim Laine, who has lived in Dryden for over a decade, appreciated being able to see her doctor at a clinic within walking distance of her home. […]. ‘I can see this being a very distressing point for local residents who have relied on their physician being located right around the corner,’ Laine said. […]. ‘Even if you did drive, for an older person, if your doctor is only a couple blocks away, that’s a lot different than having to go all the way down [state Route] 13, all the way to the mall,’ Laine said.” [Ithaca Voice]
New Jersey
Susan Ochs, Acting Banking and Insurance Commissioner
- “‘We are seeing the heartbreaking consequences of the federal government’s failure to extend the enhanced premium tax credits for tens of thousands across the Garden State,’ acting Banking and Insurance Commissioner Susan Ochs said Tuesday. ‘These individuals and families will now be at risk of forgoing important preventative care and left to rely on costly emergency services that they may not be able to afford.’” [NJ Spotlight News]
South Carolina
Marielle Santos McLeod, 45, Charleston
- “McLeod, 45, said she had already spent $2,500 in the first two months of the year and owes an additional $1,300 from a January colonoscopy. That’s on top of the $895 monthly premium for a health insurance plan that covers her family of six. Those costs have led McLeod to ration her other care. Despite feeling intense chest pain since February, for example, she is putting off a CT scan and a visit to a heart specialist. ‘You’re forced to pick and choose as to where your priorities really need to be,’ said McLeod, director of strategic programs and partnerships at the Cancer Hope Network, a nonprofit that supports cancer patients.”
- “The cost of postcancer care often ‘keeps us hostage,’ she said.” [KFF Health News]
New Hampshire
Edward Shanshala, CEO of Ammonoosuc Community Health Services
- “Edward Shanshala, CEO of Ammonoosuc Community Health Services, said when Congress passed its massive tax cuts and spending law last year, he and his colleagues made the difficult decision to shut down the organization’s clinic in Franconia in anticipation of the law’s impacts. Shanshala doesn’t think a new tranche of federal funding will be enough to fully alleviate the pressures his organization is facing. ‘We’re all feeling the tension and pressure on changes as a result of this law,’ he said during a virtual event organized by Protect Our Care New Hampshire.” [New Hampshire Bulletin]
Oklahoma
Talia Fowler
- “Integris Health announced plans to close several clinics due to expected cuts in Medicaid and Medicare funding, leaving families concerned about access to care.”
- “‘A lot of emotions, but the main thing is not knowing, you know, what’s going to happen,’ said Talia Fowler, a mother impacted by the closures. Fowler said her child has been a patient of Dr. Ankur Rughani, a pediatric endocrinologist, for more than a year. The clinic will now close its doors due to Integris facing a major financial hit.”
- “‘I think for a lot of diabetic parents, it is a silent disease, but it’s monitored behind the scenes 24/7,’ Fowler said. ‘So much emotion when it comes to it, because his care has been so much better since we have started seeing Rughani, and to take a step backwards is just… I don’t know.’” [KOCO]
Washington
Noelle Pacl and her 13-year-old son, Logan
- “Hundreds of children who rely on specialized therapy services will soon be without care as St. Michael Medical Center prepares to shut down its pediatric outpatient rehabilitation clinic in Silverdale this week.”
- “‘That was devastating for me and for a lot of families because our area doesn’t have a lot of options, and our kids are not going to have places to go at this point,’ said Noelle Pacl, whose son has received care at the clinic for more than a decade. Pacl’s son, Logan, has a degenerative disease and has depended on consistent therapy for 13 years.” [KOMO News]