Category: United States of America

Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

NEW: 16 million could lose health insurance under GOP bill, CBO finds

***WATCH FULL PRESS CONFERENCE HERE; DOWNLOAD HERE***

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, hosted a virtual press conference laying out how the budget reconciliation bill that Republicans passed through the House of Representatives on May 22^nd  will be devastating for Washington state’s health care system and the 1.9 million people across Washington state who rely on Apple Health, as well as the more than 270,000 Washingtonians who access coverage through the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace, Washington Healthplanfinder. Joining Senator Murray for the press conference were Washington State Senator Marcus Riccelli (LD-3), MultiCare Inland Northwest and Yakima Senior Vice President Alex Jackson, Navigation and Engagement Supervisor at Yakima Neighborhood Health Services, Alex Cordova, and Julie Sparkman, a home care provider in Spokane and member of SEIU 775.  

The Republican legislation would cut more than $1 trillion from America’s health care system and is the largest cut to Medicaid in history. Updated estimates released yesterday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that Republicans’ legislation will kick 16 million people off their health insurance—between the drastic cuts to Medicaid and the sabotage of the Affordable Care Act and refusal to expand tax credits Democrats passed to lower health insurance premiums. Among other things, Republicans’ bill would institute work reporting requirements for Medicaid, which have been proven not to increase employment and just strip health care coverage from people who are already working or exempt—this would put more than 620,000 Washingtonians at risk of losing their health care coverage or having it delayed because of a wall of new paperwork. Republicans’ reconciliation bill also includes a provision to defund Planned Parenthood, threatening the closure of up to 200 health centers. Republicans are advancing the legislation through the budget reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority to pass in both chambers of Congress.

“I can’t emphasize this enough: the Republican bill is nothing short of a catastrophe for health care in America. And this legislation would be a massive hit to our state’s budget. One estimate from KFF found that Washington state would lose around $32 billion in federal Medicaid spending over the next 10 years. There is just no way our state would be able to make up that shortfall,” Senator Murray said on the press call today. “The Republican tax bill will strangle everyone who relies on Medicaid in red tape, creating more barriers to coverage through intentionally confusing and burdensome new work reporting requirements that could leave more than 620,000 Washingtonians without health coverage or delayed coverage. The vast majority of people on Medicaid are already working—this bill is just a scam by Republicans to make it so hard to qualify for Medicaid that people just give up. And again, this bill will mean higher costs and less access to health care for everyone—not just people on Medicaid or the ACA…My office has been flooded with calls and emails from people who are terrified about what the cuts in this bill would mean for them and their families.”

“So, here’s my message to everyone today: this is not over. We can kill this bill. It won’t be easy, but we have to fight, and we have to try,” Senator Murray continued. “In 2017, Americans across the country spoke out, got loud, took to the streets, and the wave of public outcry we created ultimately killed Republicans’ first attempt at ACA repeal…Republicans in Congress are not immune to public pressure, and neither is this Administration. Your voice matters. Whatever you can do to speak up—please do it. And for my part, I will not be quiet. I will keep sounding the alarm every way I can, talking to my colleagues, and lifting up the stories of people who would be hurt by this bill.”

The Joint Economic Committee estimated last month that at least 274,000 people in Washington state would lose their health insurance under the Republican plan. Communities in Central and Eastern Washington are among the most reliant on Medicaid and the two Congressional Districts in Washington state with the most people enrolled in Medicaid (known as Apple Health in Washington state) are WA-04 and WA-05. In Washington’s 4^th District, 38 percent of the population (300,511 people) rely on Medicaid, including 70 percent of kids. In Washington’s 5^th District, 30 percent of the population (237,567 people), including 56 percent of kids, rely on the program.

“For people in Spokane and across Washington State, these proposed federal Medicaid cuts represent a real threat to basic health, access to care, and financial stability,” said Washington State Senator Marcus Riccelli (LD-3). “There is no doubt this legislation will force many of our rural hospitals and clinics to close and lead to increased wait times and reduced services in urban areas, like I represent. It’s clear many people in Spokane and Washington will face unneeded health risks and suffering…In Spokane County, over 35 percent of the population is covered by Medicaid. Pulling the rug from underneath thousands of people in my community and across our state, and across this country, will mean a loss of comprehensive services to people. This means reducing or eliminating access to primary care, behavioral health, and dental care. This means delaying care. This means floods of people ending up in the emergency room that did not have to be there…And let’s be clear, the more people that end up in our hospital systems, the more expensive it will be on our already overburdened system…Working families will face significant costs to treat chronic illness or a trip to emergency room, which is already overwhelming enough…Six in ten Washington adults already say they can’t pay an unexpected medical bill, and three in 10 Washington residents say they live in a household with medical debt already, even with insurance. Can you imagine if these cuts happen, if you’re even able to find care, now what you’d be faced with?”

“From a patient’s perspective, the biggest concerns about the [One Big Beautiful Bill] Act are the numerous provisions that will make it harder for patients to get health insurance coverage and keep that coverage. Some of those barriers include: a shortened enrollment period; requirements to purchase insurance via the Health Benefits Exchange every year—right now, patients are automatically re-enrolled; requirements to verify individuals on Medicaid expansion every six months; requirements for those in the expansion population to verify work status, again, every six months,” said Alex Jackson, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive for MultiCare Inland Northwest and Yakima. “When people lose their coverage, their medical needs don’t go away. In fact, look at health insurance coverage—the lack of health insurance coverage can end up exacerbating those needs, as patients without insurance genuinely don’t receive the preventive care that they desperately need that keep patients and populations healthy. Patients may even ration food or skip medication altogether. All this adds up to patients who, when they do seek care, will require higher level care—which is also more expensive. In addition, they often enter the healthcare system through an emergency department…putting increased stress, not only on them, but on other patients in emergency department care as well. In accordance with our mission in MultiCare, we provide care for all who need it, any day, any hour of the day as well, irregardless of their ability to pay. When patients lose access to health insurance, health systems like MultiCare will have no choice but to care for those patients and absorb the increased costs associated with providing uncompensated care—creating a financially unintentional and unsustainable situation for health systems. Ultimately, we may have to cut services, causing entire communities to lose important access to care. For smaller hospitals and health systems, particularly those in rural areas that have already been mentioned today, they have may have no choice but to close their doors entirely, leaving those communities without access to even seeking our services like an emergency department. And not only that, it will also close, likely, the largest employer in that community as well.”

“We provide 150,000 visits every year to the working poor in our communities. Last year, we provided over 90,000 visits to patients on Medicaid and Qualified Health Plan insurances. We estimate about one-third of our patients will lose their health coverage, not because they are not eligible, but because of the heavy administrative burdens, or because less of the subsidies will make their coverage unaffordable. Our community health center has been a navigator lead organization since 2014, the beginning of the Affordable Care Act. Our navigators cover 6,600 square miles, mostly rural, between Yakima and Kittitas County. We have completed over 200,000 Medicaid and health benefit exchange applications during that time, we have heard a lot of family stories about what makes health care accessible and affordable,” said Alex Cordova, Navigation and Engagement Supervisor at Yakima Neighborhood Health Services. “Most of our help has gone to helping people apply for Medicaid, and if they make just too much money for Medicaid, then we have looked at their options through the exchange products. Most of the people we have are working, disabled, or have children at home they are caring for. We are really worried about [what] the proposed changes will do for our families, and so are they. Recently, we had a family of five, parent working as a construction worker. Their children did qualify for Apple Health. Unfortunately, the parents did not—they were a little bit over income by like $150. Then we did have them explore the insurances through the exchange, but they were grateful for the help, but they were just worried that losing subsidies will make it harder for them to have insurance in the future. We also see…a lot of clients with Medicaid coming in, and they are quite fearful for the future. They ask, what’s going on, what’s going to happen to my coverage? How is that going to affect my family? So, just right now, open enrollment is from November 1^st to January 15^th, but the exchanges are going to shorten the open enrollment period by a month. And right now, also losing tax credits is going to make it harder for families to get insurance through the exchange. So, we’re supposed to be moving forward, not backwards.”

“Almost exactly two years ago, my grandson Magnus was in a horrific car accident just outside Liberty Lake. He was only four months old. One moment he was smiling and babbling, and the next, he was being rushed by ambulance to Sacred Heart, fighting for his life. By the time my daughter and I arrived at the hospital, Magnus was already in the Pediatric ICU. He had suffered internal injuries, three skull fractures, and multiple brain bleeds. The doctors told us the chances of survival were almost none, to prepare for end-of-life care. Those were the worst three days of my life. I lived them five minutes at a time. I didn’t want to step away—not to eat, not even to go to the bathroom—because I was terrified, he wouldn’t be there when I got back. But Magnus made it. He spent a month in the PICU. And what saved him wasn’t luck. It was the infrastructure. It was the ambulance, the ICU, the trained doctors and nurses, the machines keeping him alive—and every bit of it supported by Medicaid,” Julie Sparkman, Spokane home care provider and member of SEIU 775. “This is what’s at stake. When people talk about cutting Medicaid, especially in rural areas, they’re talking about shutting down hospitals, losing emergency care, and removing access to life-saving treatment. Magnus didn’t have time to be transferred. If the nearest hospital had been hours away—he wouldn’t be here today…I support our family with my work as a home care provider. But here’s the truth: healthcare workers are going to leave the field. Caregivers like me are preparing to leaving this work. Not because we want to, but because we have bills, too. Rent, groceries, gas—it all keeps going up, but Medicaid funding has to be there for that program to remain. When Medicaid is cut by hundreds of billions of dollars, caregivers lose hours, wages get cut, and benefits disappear. Many of us simply won’t be able to stay in this work, even though we love it—because love doesn’t pay the electric bill. And when we leave, it’s not just a workforce problem. It’s a care crisis. Clients go without support, families burn out, and rural communities are left behind. None of this is theoretical. Accidents happen. Illness happens. Aging happens.  Emergencies don’t care where you live, or how far the nearest hospital is. And you don’t come out of an ICU by accident—it takes skilled people, working systems, and resources. We built this safety net for a reason—so people in crisis have somewhere to go, and someone to help them. We cannot abandon it now. We need to fight to protect Medicaid, protect our hospitals, and protect rural healthcare. Because no one should lose the person they love just because the care they needed was too far away or already gone.”

Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered at today’s press conference, are below and video is HERE:

“Thank you all for joining this call today.

“We are here because right now in Congress, Republicans are ramming through a mega-bill that would gut health care access across the country—all so they can pay for tax handouts for billionaires.

“This big, betrayal of a bill, which they are trying to get to President Trump’s desk before July 4^th, would be a 1 trillion dollar hit to our health care system and the largest cut to Medicaid in history. Nearly 11 million people in America would lose their health care coverage, that’s nearly 8 million people getting kicked off Medicaid and another 3 million who would lose their Affordable Care Act Marketplace coverage.

“Not only that, but Republicans are refusing to extend critical tax credits that lower people’s health insurance premiums—which will make another 4.2 million people lose coverage. And that will raise costs for everyone. People getting kicked off their health care, hospitals and nursing homes in our rural areas will shut down, small businesses no longer being able to afford to provide health care for their employees, and skyrocketing premiums for working and middle-class families.

“I can’t emphasize this enough: the Republican bill is nothing short of a catastrophe for health care in America. And this legislation would be a massive hit to our state’s budget—one estimate from KFF found that Washington state would lose around $32 billion in federal Medicaid spending over the next 10 years. There is just no way our state would be able to make up that shortfall.  

“The Republicans tax bill will strangle everyone who relies on Medicaid in red tape, creating more barriers to coverage through intentionally confusing and burdensome new work reporting requirements that could leave more than 620,000 Washingtonians without health care coverage or delayed coverage. The vast majority of people on Medicaid are already working—this bill is just a scam by Republicans to make it so hard to qualify for Medicaid that people just give up.

“And again, this bill will mean higher costs, less access to health care for everyone—not just people on Medicaid or the ACA. And you know, that is especially true in our rural communities, which stand to be the hardest hit by this legislation. One analysis found that 700 rural hospitals across the country would be forced to close under this bill. You’ll hear more from Alex Jackson with MultiCare about how this bill would affect hospitals in Central and Eastern Washington.

“Now my office has been flooded with calls and emails from people who are terrified about what the cuts in this bill would mean for them and their patients. An endocrinologist in Wenatchee wrote to tell me about how, after the ACA became law, they saw many new patients who had insurance for the first time in their adult life. These patients had been paying for expensive over-the-counter insulin, but under the ACA they were finally able to get better treatment with newer insulins and more advanced technology. They wrote: ‘If Medicaid cuts take away coverage for these patients, it will be like going back to the dark ages in terms of treatment.’

“A doctor in Yakima wrote to tell me about one of their patients, an 82-year-old woman who has chronic pain and heart issues. Her Medicaid coverage pays for a caregiver, and it allows her to live at home relatively independently. Without Medicaid, all of that would fall away.

“A doctor in Spokane wrote to tell me how many of their patients are already suffering extreme financial hardship. Many of them can barely scrape enough money together for their appointments, and that is with the current levels of Medicaid support. And they wrote: ‘these patients are our neighbors and community members—not criminal freeloaders as some people seem to believe.’

“Another person from Spokane explained how cutting Medicaid—meaning more care goes uncompensated—will exacerbate the existing shortage of mental health care in Spokane County.

“Now, Trump and his cabinet full of billionaires clearly don’t get it. But I have to say, for the life of me, I do not understand how some of the same Republicans who represent districts most reliant on Medicaid, ever looked at this bill, looked at what it would do to the people they serve, and said, ‘count me in!’

“So, here’s my message to everyone today: this is not over. We can kill this bill. It won’t be easy, but we have to fight, and we have to try.

“This bill is in the Senate now, and Republican senators are going to change it—which means if they can pass it, it will have to go back to the House again. In 2017, Americans across the country spoke out, they got loud, they took to the streets, and the wave of public outcry we created ultimately killed Republicans’ first attempt at ACA repeal. So, blocking this Health Care Heist is not out of reach.

“Republicans in Congress are not immune to public pressure, and neither is this Administration. Your voice matters. Whatever you can do to speak up—please do it. For my part, I will not be quiet. I will keep sounding the alarm every way I can, talking to my colleagues, and lifting up the stories of people who would be hurt by this bill.

“We have a big task in front of us, but we have stopped Republican health care repeal before, we can do it again.”