The American Health Care Act (AHCA) now being pushed through Congress is bad for rural Oregon. Rep. Walden’s work in crafting and supporting this replacement to the ACA is disappointing.
Under the AHCA, the 2nd District will lose over $500 million in annual health care revenues. Those dollars primarily benefit low-income working families and individuals.
Losing that money will mean fewer dollars flowing into local economies and fewer people with healthcare. By 2023, well over 100,000 people living in the District will have lost the coverage they now get from Medicaid expansion.
Individuals buying coverage on the Oregon Heath Exchange will see their current subsidies replaced with much less generous tax credits that don’t compensate for the higher insurance costs and lower incomes of rural counties.
A 60-year-old earning $30,000 and living in Grant County will see their premiums jump by over $8,200 a year. Older individuals and those with lower incomes will lose insurance because they can no longer afford it. The loss of insured patients and rising costs of uncompensated care will mean fewer rural doctors and healthcare workers and threaten the survival of rural hospitals.
The AHCA seems almost tailored to hurt Walden’s rural district with its older citizens, lower-income working families and higher medical costs.
The driving force for these changes seems to have less to do with helping provide affordable healthcare than with giving huge tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans. It is hard to see how these changes benefit our rural District. I hope Congress will step back from the rush to pass this legislation.
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