HealthCare Notes

7/15/17

American Medical Association, health groups sound alarms over Trumpcare 3.0

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/14/1680715/-American-Medical-Association-health-groups-sound-alarms-over-Trumpcare-3-0
"Other major industry groups agree. The president of the American Hospital Association, Rick Pollack, says it would mean "real consequences for real people. […] Among them people with chronic conditions such as cancer, individuals with disabilities who need long-term services and support, and the elderly." Darrel Kirch, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, specifically address the harm the Cruz amendment would cause, saying that it "will hurt those with preexisting conditions and further destabilize insurance markets." Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, reinforces that, saying that the bill as a whole, including the Cruz amendment, would make health care worse for cancer patients and everyone. "This bill would leave patients and those with pre-existing conditions paying more for less coverage and would substantially erode the progress our nation has been trying to make in providing affordable, adequate and meaningful coverage to all Americans," he said. None of these groups or any others in the industry or representing patients had any say in this bill. Neither did at least 45 of the 52 Republican senators who are about to vote on this thing, if Mitch McConnell has his way. One, just one, of those 45 or so who've been shut out of the process could put an end to this thing right now. It only takes three to torpedo the bill, and Susan Collins and Rand Paul are already there."