Contact:
Brynne McBride- (608) 261-6939 x 210
Bobby Peterson- (608) 444-7197
Madison, WI– Today the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its projected impact of the “American Health Care Act,” the latest in a series of “Repeal and Replace” bills to come out of the new Trump Administration. Bobby Peterson, Executive Director of ABC for Health says, “The [CBO] report sticks a large fork in the half-baked turkey called the American Health Care Act (AHCA). The report identifies sharp increases in the uninsured rates which of course means more uncompensated care – the cost of which will be socialized and redistributed among everyone else.”
ABC for Health charted the CBO’s estimates for increased rates of additional uninsurance should the AHCA become law, along with its own projections of not only the increased rate of uncompensated care that hospitals can expect from having fewer patients covered by Medicaid or private insurance, but also a graphic they call a “Patient/Provider Misery Index.”
Earlier this week, Peterson gave the AHCA “two thumbs down,” for prioritizing care for the healthy and wealthy over lower income folks and those with disabilities. You can watch his comments here: http://mediasite.safetyweb.org/Mediasite/Play/29a91d1b534c4120874f69ae992738ac1d
ABC for Health staff and guests will discuss these issues and much more at the 2017 Annual HealthWatch Wisconsin Conference, “The Health Care Coverage Pendulum Swings,” March 22-23 in Madison at the Madison Masonic Center (301 Wisconsin Ave). http://www.safetyweb.org/healthwatchwi/conference.html
