As President-elect Trump & GOP Leaders Move Forward with ACA Repeal, Shaheen & Hassan Hear Concerns of NH Healthcare Providers & Policy Leaders

(Washington, DC) —This morning at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinic in Manchester, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) hosted a roundtable discussion with healthcare providers and policy leaders to assess the impact of repealing the Affordable Care Act on New Hampshire. As President-elect Trump and Republican leadership in Congress move forward to repeal the law without a replacement plan, these experts warned that this could have dire consequences for the tens of thousands of Granite Staters who now have coverage thanks to the healthcare reform law.

Also earlier today, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report on the Republicans’ plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The report estimated that by repealing the ACA without a replacement, 32 million people would lose healthcare coverage by 2026, with nearly 18 million Americans losing coverage in the first year of enactment. Premiums in individual markets would about double by 2026.

“The message from these New Hampshire healthcare experts is clear: the ACA has made our state healthier and a wholesale repeal would be devastating for all those Granite Staters who have coverage thanks to the law,” said Senator Shaheen. “Today’s CBO report underscores the recklessness of Republican leadership and President-elect Trump’s efforts to repeal this law, especially with no prepared replacement. Nearly 1 out of every 10 Granite Staters rely on coverage afforded by the ACA for vital preventative health services like cancer screenings, blood pressure monitoring and contraceptives, and many other healthcare services that are critical to long-term health and wellbeing. I will continue to encourage President-elect Trump and Republican leadership in Congress to work across the aisle to improve this law, rather than risk unnecessary chaos and uncertainty in the lives of millions of American families.”

“As new data from the Congressional Budget Office emphasizes, repealing the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion without a replacement is a recipe for upheaval, instability and increased costs, and it would also greatly hinder our economic progress and our efforts to combat the heroin, fentanyl and opioid crisis in New Hampshire,” Senator Hassan said. “The Affordable Care Act has helped individuals and families across the nation access quality, affordable health coverage, including critical substance abuse and behavioral health services for thousands of Granite Staters covered by Medicaid expansion. Today’s roundtable was an important opportunity to hear from health care providers and advocates who have seen the positive impact of the Affordable Care Act first-hand, and I encouraged them to continue to make their voices heard. I will continue fighting for the Granite State and to improve the Affordable Care Act rather than take coverage away from millions of hard-working Americans.”

At today’s roundtable discussion, experts testified on the disproportional impact that ACA repeal would have on low- and middle-income families in New Hampshire. They also drew attention to the expanded coverage provided for mental health and substance misuse treatment, which has been vital as the state combats the opioid epidemic, as well as for the management of diabetes and other diseases. Providers also highlighted the harmful effects of repeal, which hospital administrators have already factored into investments for the future of their practices. Repealing the ACA and the corresponding compensation structure would disrupt hospitals and healthcare providers’ ability to plan ahead.

Those who contributed to the roundtable:

- Lucy Hodder, Director of UNH Health Law and Policy Program

- Tess Kuenning, Bi-State Primary Care

- Dean Carucci, CEO, Portsmouth Regional Hospital

- Beth Roberts, Vice President, Harvard Pilgrim Northern New England

- Ken Norton, National Alliance on Mental Illness

- Dr. Travis Harker, NH Family Physicians & Chief Medical Officer, Granite Health

- Linda Paquette, New Futures

- Jennifer Frizzell, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England

Key Facts on the ACA in New Hampshire:

- 43%: uninsured rate in NH has fallen since the ACA was enacted in 2010 citation

- 600,000: Granite Staters who have a pre-existing health condition, and have benefitted from the ACA provision prohibiting insurers for charging more to those with pre-existing health conditions citation

- 3x: Estimated increase in uninsured rate if the ACA were repealed citation

- 118,000: Granite Staters who would lose health care coverage by 2019 under ACA repeal citation

- 48,000: Medicaid claims submitted in 2015 for vital substance use disorder treatment

- 9,000: Young adults who have benefited from the ACA provision that allows kids to stay on their parents’ health insurance up to age 26 citation

- 690,524: Granite Staters who benefitted from free preventative care and services such as flu shots, cancer screenings & contraception citation

- 74%: Seniors enrolled in Medicare Part B who took advantage of at least one free preventive service citation

- 13,000: Number jobs lost in NH if the ACA were repealed citation

- 2%: average premium increase on NH’s exchange from 2016 to 2017, the second lowest increase in the nation citations here and here

 

ACA Repeal & Opioid Epidemic:

- 50%: Increase in treatment gap under ACA repeal for Americans suffering from the opioid epidemic citation

- $5.5 billion: Amount of money lost per year under ACA repeal for treatment for mental and substance use disorders citation

- 2.8 million: Americans with a substance use disorder, of whom about 222,000 have an opioid use disorder, would lose some or all of their insurance coverage citation