A4
Opinion
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
GOP should
learn from
Obamacare’s
failures
C
ongress’ proposed
alternative to Obamacare
would not force anyone
off the Oregon Health Plan.
Let’s be clear about that.
But let’s be equally clear:
Hundreds of thousands of
Oregonians could lose their
health insurance.
That contradiction exists
because the so-called American
Health Care Act is not health-
care reform. It is fi nancial
reform, or at least change. The
plan put forth by congressional
Republicans and the Trump
administration would slash
federal spending on health
care, shifting much of that
responsibility to the states.
Still, it’s disingenuous
for Republicans to say no
one would be kicked off
Medicaid, or for Democrats
to say millions of Americans
would be, as if those outcomes
were guaranteed. As with the
health plan’s predecessor —
the Affordable Care Act, or
Obamacare — no one knows
what will happen.
The question for Congress
and the American people
comes down to how much our
government should spend on
health coverage for low- and
moderate-income Americans.
If states have the money
— which few, if any, will
— they could continue
serving all their Medicaid
recipients. In Oregon, where
most Medicaid coverage is
through the Oregon Health
Plan, that could cost the state
an additional $2.6 billion
over five years. That is why
state officials say as many
as 375,000 people could lose
Oregon Health Plan coverage
by 2023.
Democratic Gov. Kate
Brown said last week that
the number of uninsured
Oregonians would triple, from
the current 5 percent of the
population to 15 percent. That
is because of bureaucratic
hurdles imposed by the
American Health Care Act, as
well as reduced subsidies and
Oregon’s inability to cover the
increased costs.
The Republican plan
would repeal and replace the
Affordable Care Act, which
had little to do with health-
care reform either. The reform
was in insurance coverage,
although Oregon was able to
improve care while reducing
price hikes. The key was the
establishment of coordinated
care organizations, whose
collaborative model of
overall health care reduced
emergency room visits and
hospital admissions. On the
other hand, Cover Oregon was
an expensive fiasco, and it is
still costing Oregon money.
The Affordable Care Act
and the new congressional
plan share other similarities —
unfortunate ones, starting with
lack of clarity at the outset.
Changes in the American
Health Care Act are likely
because the current proposal
appears to please no one.
Conservatives in the
Republican congressional
majority contend the plan
remains too much like
Obamacare. Minority
Democrats complain that it
undoes Obamacare’s good
points.
Unfortunately, congressional
Republicans appear ready to
follow the Democrats’ bad
example and ram their health-
fi nance plan down the throats
of the opposition. That strategy
resulted in the Affordable Care
Act we currently have — a
mix of fl aws, successes and
uncertainties.
A Republican plan that
follows a similar unilateral
approach will yield a similar
outcome.
G UEST C OMMENT
Aviation and medicine
By Chip Goodman
To the Blue Mountain Eagle
Medical innovation never
stops moving and evolving to
meet the next challenges. New
technology, methods and knowl-
edge constantly advance our abil-
ity to help patients get back on
their feet and on with their lives.
And what many people may not
realize is that a lot of this depends
on transportation, and aviation in
particular.
Aviation helps to transport
medicine and supplies, including
in times of disaster; it brings pa-
tients to treatment and medical
facilities; and it helps to trans-
port blood, organs and platelets.
It literally connects people to the
treatment they need on a daily
basis.
Over 7 million Americans rely
on artificial knees and hips, and
my company, American Medical
Concepts, distributes orthopedic
and surgical implants across the
Northwest, including to Alaska
and Hawaii.
As the United States’ elderly
population increases, more doc-
tors are turning to companies like
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the biggest airports that we use,
it is Congress that governs this
system and ensures that commu-
nities of all sizes which are im-
portant to our national economy
and infrastructure remain funded
and protected.
But I’m concerned this may
not be the case if we privatize our
air traffic control system, as some
in Washington are now suggest-
ing that we do.
Under this proposal, sweeping
decisions about system access,
fees, and local airport invest-
ments, among many other things,
would get made by a private
board dominated by the biggest,
commercial airline interests.
You can guess where that would
leave the smallest aircraft and
airports.
Oregon has long been known
for its independent spirit, and I
encourage our leaders to follow
that spirit and keep our air trans-
portation system public and over-
seen by Congress.
Chip Goodman is the CEO and
chairman of the Board of Amer-
ican Medical Concepts, a medi-
cal technology distributor since
1989.
L ETTERS TO THE E DITOR
Which would you cut,
defund or change?
W HERE TO W RITE
mine to learn how to use new im-
plants and techniques to meet this
growing demand.
Initially, our sales team had
to spend days on the road trying
to connect with local doctors and
hospitals to teach them about
the products and how to use
them.
When we started using general
aviation in 2000, it greatly helped
us grow our business. We could
connect with doctors in rural ar-
eas on short notice, and we could
fly doctors from their practices to
our training labs.
In the case of serious acci-
dents, when the closest hospi-
tal is not a Tier 1 trauma center,
my company will fly spinal and
trauma implants to the hospital,
and often, if a patient needs to
be moved between hospitals, we
volunteer our aircraft for an “an-
gel flight.”
In the case of my business,
and for a lot of communities
throughout Oregon, small air-
craft and airports play an integral
role in connecting communities
to the resources and services we
need.
But because it is not always
To the Editor:
With all the debate going on
about the government budget and
people clamoring for cuts and
changes, I felt it was time to get
some perspective on some of what
we have going on that “We the
People” may want to rethink, as to
whether to defund or cut or change.
So here is a short list of some
of our expenses and amenities and
perks that we fought for and that we
all benefi t from.
In our quest to defund or cut
back or change, which of these
would you do that to?
The Constitution (i.e., “We the
People”), the Bill of Rights, the
Pledge of Allegiance (with liberty
and justice for all), separation of
church and state, a free and open
press?
Abolition, women’s suffrage,
child labor laws, the right to union-
ize with collective bargaining?
The New Deal, Social Security?
Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable
Care Act (when improved), emer-
gency medical services?
The GI Bill, the U.S. military
and all its equal support services?
The Interstate Highway system
and infrastructure, street lights and
road systems, national parks and
U.S. Forest Service, fi re and police
services, public schools?
Farm subsidies, oil subsidies,
corporate subsidies?
Civil rights legislation, the Great
Society, the War on Poverty?
Jim Bay
Mt. Vernon
Global anti-poverty
programs important
To the Editor:
The White House is proposing
drastic cuts to national and global
social services and development
programs in our national budget.
This would be disastrous. This is
true in Idaho as well, where many
of our most vulnerable citizens,
our children, rely on programs
such as SNAP, CHIP, school food
programs and Headstart. Current-
ly, millions of kids in the U.S. are
able to go to preschool and public
school where they get these vital
services supported by the U.S.
government. Healthy, educated
children become healthy, educat-
ed adults who can contribute to
their communities and economies
in a myriad of ways. This bene-
fits all of us. These children are
less likely to continue the cycle
of poverty, and also less likely to
end up in our overburdened prison
system.
It’s been said that the national
budget is a moral document, re-
flecting our American values and
priorities. I strongly urge our rep-
resentatives to reject any cuts to
national and global anti-poverty
programs. I believe our country
is at its best when we make sure
everyone has the foundation for a
healthy and promising future.
Janet McClenahan
Boise, Idaho
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