Guest Essay: The Disastrous Impact of the AHCA
Right now, the U.S. Senate is considering the American Health Care Act. You’ve probably heard that the AHCA would reduce coverage for 23 million Americans (including 2.7 million New Yorkers) and create a fiscal crisis for New York state through a dramatic reduction of federal support for the state’s Medicaid program. But cuts have consequences.
Rochester Regional Healthcare Association, which represents 17 hospitals across Rochester and the Finger Lakes, is deeply concerned that the AHCA would have a disastrous impact on our hospitals, healthcare providers, and their employees. It could jeopardize their status as the economic drivers of our communities.
We can’t afford to put Rochester’s two largest employers at risk. The University of Rochester/UR Medicine is the largest employer in our region with 26,000 employees. Rochester Regional Health is the second largest employer with 15,000 employees.
Combined, their health systems cover 11 hospitals in the Rochester area. Local hospitals create jobs and economic security. For example, Strong Memorial Hospital generates $2.2 billion in economic activity and Rochester General Hospital generates $1.5 billion in economic activity.
The ripple effects are tangible across the Greater Rochester economy. Hospitals in the Rochester area generate $807 million in tax dollars for the local economy. In addition, the benefits to the community are numerous. Adhering to their charitable mission, hospitals regularly cover the cost of care provided to people in need. They subsidize care to low-income and elderly population as well as invest in community health initiatives.
Cutting Medicaid funding would have serious consequences for the most vulnerable members of the Rochester community. Did you know that babies, children, seniors and emergency room services would be impacted? Here are the faces of Medicaid in New York:
- 1 in 3 children are covered by Medicaid
- 71 percent of nursing home residents are covered by Medicaid
- 52 percent of babies delivered are covered by Medicaid
- 40 percent of ER, clinic visits and outpatient services are covered by Medicaid
Medicaid cuts would have a negative impact on middle class residents in Rochester. If your parents or grandparents are living in a nursing home, it’s likely that they’re receiving health care covered by Medicaid. If the AHCA passes the Senate and is signed into law, it would force some nursing homes out of business, which means residents would have to be relocated, possibly out of Rochester, to other homes that could accept them.
There is no fat to cut – operating margins for hospitals are already very small. In fact, New York hospitals have the second lowest operating margins in the nation. Medicaid only pays 73 cents for each dollar of care, and under the proposed legislation, hospitals would see uncompensated care rise significantly, completely eliminating the very thin margins on which they survive.
The U.S. Senate hopes to pass the American Health Care Act before the July 4th holiday. Please call Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, to voice your concerns, and add your signature to the petition that’s circulated by the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care at www.protecthealthcare.org.
If you live in a district represented by Congressman Chris Collins or Congressman Tom Reed, please call them and ask them to vote against the AHCA if it comes back to the House of Representatives. Additionally, if you live in a district represented by Congressman John Katko or Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, please call them and thank them for voting against these devastating health care cuts.
The time to act is now.
Travis Heider is president and CEO of Rochester Regional Healthcare Association