27 PA Health Groups Condemn New GOP Healthcare Plan

A group of 27 Pennsylvania healthcare groups have penned a letter condemning the new Republican Affordable Health Care Act, designed to replace President Obama's Affordable Care Act. The letter, addressed to Pennsylvania's U.S. Senators Pat Toomey and Bob Casey, urges the pair to fight efforts to repeal the ACA, citing a variety of statistics which claim that such a move would be wrong for patients, especially in the Keystone State.

The healthcare groups include doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, including the American Academy of Pediatrics Pennsylvania Chapter, the Health Federation of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health, and others.

Chief among their complaints: they allege that the ACHA would phase out Medicaid and put more people at risk in the ongoing opioid crisis. They also allege that older Pennsylvanians would have a much more difficult time purchasing health insurance under the new legislation.

"For example, a sixty-year-old Pennsylvanian with an income of $30,000 would receive up to $10,280 less annually under the AHCA. This flaw in the AHCA would have a disproportionate impact on Pennsylvania, due to its aging population," the letter states.

Pennsylvania currently has the fifth highest number of residents that are aged 85 or older.

The groups urge the senators to advocate for four key changes in future healthcare legislation:

• Expand Medicaid funding
• Provide insurance subsidies for low-income individuals who can't afford it
• Instead of per-capita caps, incentivize states to move away from from fee-for-service programs
• Maintain consumer protections by requiring health benefit standards of all states

After initially being pulled from the floor before a House of Representatives vote in March, a revised ACHA passed the House in May. It is now up to the Senate to decide the bill's fate.

Toomey, a Republican, has advocated for healthcare reform and was among the 13 Republicans chosen to help write the newest draft of the bill.

Read the full letter online here.

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