This week, the U.S. Senate did not vote on a Republican bill to overhaul health care and repeal current health care law. As of press time, Congress is preparing to take a week-long break for the Fourth of July holiday.
It is currently uncertain if the Senate will vote on the health care bill after it reconvenes Monday, July 10. Supporters of the bill would have only three weeks to bring it to a vote, before Congress takes a scheduled five-week break. That break concludes when Congress reconvenes Tuesday, Sept. 6.
“Perhaps most importantly, after making it through six months without a single marquee legislative achievement, health legislation now looms as a make-or-break test of the GOP’s ability to govern now that it controls the levers of power in Washington,” wrote Erica Werner of the Associated Press.
High-ranking Senate Republicans agreed to add $45 billion in funding for battling opioid abuse, AP reported in a separate article on Thursday, June 29.
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is hoping the added money will help win over moderate GOP senators like Rob Portman of Ohio and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia,” AP wrote. “Their states are among many battered by rising death tolls from illegal drug use and they’ve been pushing for the funds.”
Portman and Moore Capito were also reported as insisting on easing cuts the proposed bill would impose on Medicaid, which provides insurance for low-income and disabled people.
“There’s no indication an agreement had been reached to pull back on those reductions,” AP wrote.
Regional response
This week, North Dakota’s senators issued statements indicating their desire for a health care solution.
“I have concerns about the Senate draft legislation, but will continue working to improve it to help ensure that it provides a smooth transition away from Obamacare and toward a health care system that provides greater access to health coverage for low-income individuals either through Medicaid or tax credits based on age and income that will make health insurance more affordable,” said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., on Wednesday, June 28.
Earlier in the week, Hoeven said health care reform will be a process not accomplished by one bill.
“We need to stabilize the health insurance market to make it more competitive so consumers have access to better and more affordable health care policies,” he said Monday, June 26.
That same day, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., responded to a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Pointing to the budget office’s statement that the bill would take health care away from 22 million Americans by 2026, Heitkamp discussed how that would affect North Dakota residents.
“According to (Congress’) Joint Economic Committee, in 2018, more than 31,000 North Dakotans would lose private health coverage, and those with coverage would see their premiums increase by an average of almost $800,” she said.
For Heitkamp, saving money at the expense of Medicaid isn’t improvement.
“Just like the House bill (the Affordable Health Care Act), the biggest savings would come from severe cuts to Medicaid, which is a cruel joke to the 90,000 North Dakotans who rely on this lifesaving program for affordable, quality care. North Dakotans have had their voices heard – individuals with pre-existing conditions like cancer or asthma, parents of children with disabilities on Medicaid, adults with elderly parents in nursing homes, farmers and those in rural communities who rely on rural hospitals, and those receiving treatment for opioid abuse have all stood up to oppose this bill and explain the real life consequences.”
Heitkamp continued to call for “an honest, meaningful, transparent and bipartisan conversation” about healthcare.
“Congress is supposed to work for the American people,” she said.
“Instead this bill, which was crafted in secret, would destroy the lives of families across our state and country who are just trying to keep their children, parents and spouses healthy. They deserve better,” Heitkamp added.
The forgotten class
Heath care columnist Trudy Lieberman also weighed in on the consequences of cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and other programs benefitting senior citizens.
“At stake is what kind of life Americans want for their oldest citizens?” Lieberman wrote.
“Pamela Tainter-Causey, the communications director for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, offered one answer: ‘We are saying that seniors are becoming the forgotten class.’”
Currently, “senior citizen” is defined by legislators as a person able to receive a pension, Social Security or medical benefits for the elderly.
According to the U.S. Census bureau, the projected population of people aged 65 or older is expected to reach 98.2 million in 2060.
“People in this age group will comprise nearly one in four U.S. residents. Of this number, 19.7 million will be age 85 or older.”
While it may feel like healthcare reform won’t be settled soon, outlets like CNN are reporting a compromise bill may be written by week’s end.
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