Opinion : Letter to the Editor: Opposed To The New American Health Care Act (AHCA)

The House of Representatives may vote on the American Health Care Act (AHCA) as early as Saturday. Inthis version is an amendment that may again cause consumers to be denied coverage based on preexistinghealth conditions. Other changes would eliminate mandatory coverage requirements, a key element in making sure all people with insurance receive certain basic benefits. The hospital community strongly opposes this latest version of the bill because of the effect it will haveon patients and hospitals. The previous projection of 24 million losing coverage is probably low now,given the provisions in the new bill. Many of the screenings currently part of all policies, screenings thatsave money and reduce premature deaths, will become optional and available only in plans costingmuch more. Finally, all of us rely on having medical facilities close by when emergencies strike, or toprevent unnecessary inconvenience and costs associated with traveling for appointments. The explosionin charity care that will occur with passage of this bill will threaten the existence of many hospitals,especially small ones like Virginia Gay. I am not under the illusion that the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was a great piece oflegislation. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that making bad legislation much worse isn't going to helpus either. Please contact your representatives before Saturday if you are as concerned as I am about the effect ofthis legislation. The contact information for Representative Blum is as follows: https://blum.house.gov/contact/emailor by phone 202-225-3121 Mike Riege