L-R: Hoger, Thompson, Gurgui
KINGSTON – A briefing held on Ulster Avenue in Kingston on Wednesday afternoon highlighted the devastating effect to disabled people, after the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passes the House of Representatives. The vote will be taken by Congress today.
Passage is uncertain. As of last night, the Republican majority did not have enough confirmed votes supporting the reform, which will repeal Obamacare (Affordable Care Act, or ACA), slashing Medicaid spending by approximately $880 billion through 2024.
“Our primary goal today is to bring attention to the extreme negative
ramifications of the ACHA,” said Susan Hoger, executive director
of Resource Center for Accessible Living (RCAL), which helps Hudson Valley
residents with disabilities. “We demand that Congressman John
Faso listen to our concerns,” Hoger said, indicating that the message
must be taken directly to the media because Faso had failed to appear
at various forums organized recently to address the issue.
Alex Thomson, RCAL systems advocate, said there are a number of issues facing disabled people with the passage of AHCA. He pointed to penalties for pre-existing conditions threatening coverage, and elimination of the Community First Choice option, which keeps patients out of costly institutions.
Keith Gurgui, RCAL’s director, does not believe AHCA is a healthcare or health insurance bill.
“It’s a health care rationing bill,” Gurgui claimed. “It has to do with repealing previously established taxes under the ACA.” He said people can likely lose their lives if they lose their insurance. “That’s the blunt truth.”
Gurgui said that he receives 24-hour care for his disability through Medicaid, under the Ulster County Department of Social Services. “Who knows if I will be cut services. It’s difficult to say what will happen. A lot of uncertainty; the ACA is definitely not perfect, but was definitely an improvement on health care,” he maintained.
Under ACA, the Medicaid Expansion program allowed 32 states, including New York, to cover disabled patients during the two-year waiting period before Medicare kicks in. AHCA will cut that benefit by 2020, cutting off 3.3 million enrollees nationwide. It also shifts the burden to states by repackaging the funding into so-called block grants, forcing governors to decide which programs will be eliminated.
