Health experts said rural communities across Michigan could be hit hard by the republican health care bill if it passes through the Senate.
The bill would end Medicaid expansions, known as the Healthy Michigan Plan, under which more than one-hundred thousand residents have gained affordable coverage.
Tara Straw is a Senior Health Policy Analysts at the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities. She said the bill could make coverage unaffordable for many rural residents.
“The health bill also repeals with no replacement the cost sharing subsidies that lower deductibles and co-pays for enrollees. The repeal of this revision comes at a time when other aspects of the health plan will tend to raise deductibles and lower the share of medical costs paid by the plans”.
The Michigan League for Public Policy said in a written report, nearly one in four rural Michigan residents buy their coverage in the ACA marketplace using cost-sharing subsidies. The group said the health bill would raise per person consumer costs an average $1,519 annually. Straw said the numbers may be dramatically higher for people with pre-existing conditions.
Mary Wakefield is a former Acting Deputy Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services. She said Congress needs to remember that their decision affect real people in real towns.
“At graduation medical students take an oath. That in their practice they will do no harm. Congress should hold themselves to the same. Really, pretty much everyone who knows something about healthcare it’s why they opposed the house health bill”.