News – Kelly takes aim at medicaid cuts at Chiricahua town hall

U.S. Senator Mark Kelly speaks at a town hall in the Chiricahua Community Health Clinics Administration and Dental offices Thursday in Sierra Vista. MARK LEVY HERALD/REVIEW

SIERRA VISTA — In a town hall meeting Thursday at Chiricahua Community Health Centers Inc. in Sierra Vista, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., met with local health care professionals and community members to discuss proposed cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance programs included in the federal reconciliation bill.

The bill, which recently passed the House of Representatives and now goes to Kelly and his fellow senators, includes cuts that would be “mean-spirited” and “short-sighted,” according to Kelly. Proposed cuts, he said, are meant to fund the extension of 2017 tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest Americans.

“That’s money they use to pay for their health care, food assistance,” Kelly said. “…That’s what’s going on.”

According to a report released by the Joint Economic Committee, the cuts could result in up to 300,000 Arizonans losing Medicaid coverage.

“That’s seniors, that’s pregnant mothers, that’s kids,” Kelly said. “This could be their only health care coverage. Now we are the wealthiest country in the world—and we’ve always had a system where folks who could not afford health care would get it.”

Arizona’s Medicaid program, known as AHCCCS or “Access,” was created by the state and is primarily funded by the federal government. If the reconciliation bill passes in its current state, Kelly said cuts to Access would strain the state’s entire health care infrastructure, especially in rural areas.

“Rural hospitals could close. Health care clinics could close. Hospitals could lose departments. I talked to one hospital CEO on the other side of the state who said they may close, and then pregnant moms would have to travel three hours to the next one.”

He said this isn’t just a health care issue but an economic one.

“Most of that $30 billion [in SNAP cuts] is paid to farmers to provide food to folks who can’t afford to buy it. So if the money’s not going to hungry families, it’s not going to farmers either.”

During the town hall, numerous community members spoke about the impact federal assistance programs have had on their lives, citing a safety net that allowed them to get back on their feet.

“I’m here to hear your story… because I can take that information back to my colleagues in Washington and tell them about real people who are going to be hurt by something happening 2,000 miles away,” he said.

Senator Mark Kelly talked about Medicaid and food assistance during Thursday’s town hall in Sierra Vista. MARK LEVY HERALD/REVIEW

If cuts go through, Kelly said, hospitals could be forced to shutter programs. He noted that while groups like CCHCI would likely have contingency plans, a loss in federal funds could be devastating.

“Places like (Chiricahua) and hospitals across our state could close,” he said after the town hall. “That also impacts not only people on Medicaid—but Medicare and private insurance get impacted by this.”

Dennis Walto, Chief External Affairs Officer for Chiricahua Community Health Centers, Inc., noted the essential role Medicaid plays in sustaining healthcare access in Cochise County. “At Chiricahua, less than half of our patients rely on Medicaid for their health insurance, but that’s not the whole story, Medicaid represents 70% of payments for patient services,” Walto said.

“Medicaid is the load bearing beam that keeps our rural health clinic doors open for all,” Walto stated. “If Medicaid is cut, it doesn’t just hurt ‘someone else.’…

Walto pointed out that while 17% of patients are on Medicare and 26% have commercial insurance, the commercially insured population alone isn’t large enough to sustain Chiricahua’s wide array of services. If Medicaid coverage is lost, many patients become uninsured — placing unsustainable pressure on the system.

Despite these challenges, Walto reaffirmed Chiricahua’s mission to provide care to best to their abilities.

“Regardless of insurance status, Chiricahua’s mission and purpose is to see all persons who seek care. And we will continue to do our best to keep that promise.”

And cuts to food assistance, Kelly said, would be equally harmful.

“The impacts are broad,” he said. “For some people they’re devastating.”

The bill, he noted, will likely see some changes in the Senate and be returned to the House for another vote. Kelly singled out Republican legislators like Rep. Juan Ciscomani as people he hopes will vote for a bill that includes what he sees as harmful cuts.

In a statement released by Ciscomani last week, he defended his support for the bill and explained how sees it will not harm those who rely on this federal aid.

“It allows families more flexibility to save for college and health care costs,” a May 22 press release from Ciscomani’s office reads. “It also strengthens and protects Medicaid for those who rely on it by tackling waste, fraud, and abuse through sensible work requirements and stronger eligibility verification. I am proud to have worked with community partners, stakeholders, and our local hospitals to prevent changes to FMAP, a decrease in the provider tax, and per capita caps from being included in the reconciliation package, which would have been uniquely detrimental to thousands of Arizonans and rural hospitals in my district.”

Kelly elaborated on his strategy for reaching out to Republicans on the issue.

“I was talking to two of my Republican Senate colleagues yesterday, about this legislation—specifically about energy—but, you know, explaining to them that these are like real people, and they’re going to see these cuts in their state as well,” he told the Herald/Review. “You know, though, they got their talking points about this, that come from the White House.”

Kelly cited Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican, as an example that he and his fellow Democrats have the ability to successfully work across the aisle on the bill.

“I mentioned to this group that you had Josh Hawley in the United States Senate, a rather conservative Republican from Missouri, is against cutting Medicaid because he knows that this affects real people and it hurts them.”

Full Article at Herald/Review