Disappointed in House-Passed Health Care Bill

NEWS STATEMENT                                                                         Contact: Maureen Maxwell
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             (303) 861-5165, ext. 259
May 4, 2017                                                                                        cell: (303) 913-9078                                                                                                                                                                  maureen@cchn.org

Disappointed in House-Passed Health Care Bill
Not expected to deliver promised coverage improvements or cost savings

Statement attributable to
Polly Anderson
Vice President of Strategy and Financing
Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN)

DENVER― It is with deep disappointment that we witnessed the U.S. House of Representatives today pass a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act helped many access health care at the right time in the right setting. It wasn’t perfect but it was so much better than the unpredictable days of high numbers of uninsured Americans, uncompensated care, medical bankruptcy and access to care issues. The discussions to construct today’s bill had the opportunity to address areas of our health care system that still need improvement, but did not. Although the Congressional Budget Office has not yet scored the bill, we do not expect it to deliver the coverage improvements and costs savings promised.

We are especially concerned about the future of the Medicaid program, called Health First in our state. Colorado Community Health Centers serve more than 37 percent of patients linked to a Medicaid primary care provider, and account for only three percent of the Medicaid budget. A strong Medicaid program is critical to Community Health Centers and the people for whom we care. To maximize access to care and cost-savings for taxpayers, we urge Congress to maintain patient access to a strong Medicaid program and help us continue to be the health care home for our Medicaid-covered patients.

We ask the Senate to make the necessary changes to H. R. 1628 to prevent this bill from becoming law as is and returning millions of Americans to the status of uninsured and millions more to underinsured.

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To interview Ms. Anderson, please contact Maureen Maxwell at (303) 861-5165, Ext. 259, cell (303)913-9078, or maureen@cchn.org. 

The Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN) is the unified voice for Colorado’s 20 Community Health Centers (CHCs) and their patients. CHCs provide a health care home for more than 700,000 of their community members – more than one in eight people in Colorado – from 61 of the state’s 64 counties. Without CHCs, hundreds of thousands of Colorado’s low-income families and individuals would have no regular source of health care. CCHN’s mission is to increase access to high quality health care for people in need in Colorado. For more information about CCHN, please visit www.cchn.org.