How will Sonoma County cope with ‘the worst case scenario?’
An enclave of eager healthcare professionals crowded the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center Main Hall On Feb. 21 to hear from legislative and medical leaders how changes at the federal level of health care could affect Sonoma County.
“Health care has the potential to change very quickly and very dramatically,” said Congressman Jared Huffman.
Huffman was referring to discussions and actions in Washington D.C. where the Republican-majority congress and President Donald J. Trump’s administration have begun to scale back, repeal and try to replace President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act.
President Trump’s first executive order upon inauguration directed government agencies to scale back as many aspects of the ACA as possible. Of most concern to Huffman is the attack on Medicaid, the federal-state healthcare program covering 111,000 Sonoma County residents, according to Robb Lane, director of government and public affairs with Partnership Health Plan. Trump’s executive order directs federal officials to consider waivers under Medicaid, enabling states to have more flexibility in the types of Medicaid programs they offer.
Lane said under Medi-Cal, California’s state Medicaid program, his organization, which represents 566,000 Medi-Cal members in 14 counties, saw a 37 percent reduction in emergency room visits between January 2014 and January 2016.
“That 37 percent has been accomplished by providing access to primary care physicians,” Lane said. “Without Medi-Cal, those individuals go back to the ER, they clog the ER. It’s more expensive.”
Under the ACA, Medi-Cal was able to expand, creating more opportunities for the uninsured to have health insurance. In Sonoma County, 50,000 residents under the age of 19 are Medi-Cal patients.
“We are talking about needing to protect our vulnerable population here,” Lane said.
Lane added that many of the Medi-Cal programs available to Sonoma County residents enrolled with Partnerships Health Plan are unique, including podiatry access and vision benefits.
Changes to the federal Medicaid program could be disastrous to the county, Huffman and Lane warned. According to Lane, Sonoma County could lose more than 1,700 medical professional jobs and $1.62 million for every $1 million spent in revenue loss.
“We’re talking about big impacts to the local community,” Lane said.
Huffman added, “This is bad. It’s as every bit as bad as the worst case scenario everyone fears.”
Nevertheless, Huffman said the California legislature should — and will — stand strong to potential reforms of the ACA.
“California shouldn’t pull any punches,” Huffman said. “I say we don’t change course at all, but go full speed ahead. When I return to Washington next week I need to be sure they don’t pull the ACA out.”
Huffman said congress is still uncertain about how to replace the ACA. “It’s alright to be very skeptical,” Huffman said. “The more they reveal about their repeal or reform scheme, the more we see it is full of holes.”
