State officials Friday decried the GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act emerging from the U.S. Senate.
The plan– which some Republicans want to vote on before the 4th of July – has Delaware’s healthcare community up in arms.
Director of Delaware’s Division of Public Health Dr. Karyl Rattay calls it inhumane, and Attack Addiction’s Dave Humes agrees.
“Never have so few been so cruel to so many," Humes said.
Currently under Delaware’s Medicaid expansion plan, 50% of drug treatment services are covered, with the state picking up the rest. The new proposal Medicaid would only cover 10 percent. Furthermore, insurance companies wouldn’t be required to cover services for mental health and substance use disorders.
That worries Connections Chief Operating Officer Chris Devany. He fears many they serve who received services for the first time thanks to Medicaid expansion under Obamacare will be forced out of care and back out on the streets.
“If this bill passes you’re gonna see an increase in people incarcerated, you’re gonna see an increase in people using the hospital systems – and that’s gonna be the primary place where people are gonna end up getting care for those who are under-insured. And that’s gonna increase costs not decrease costs," Devany said.
Local law enforcement and EMT officials say they share Devany’s concerns and agree incarcerating individuals for drug offenses instead of referring them to treatment isn’t the answer.
“This is not who we are. We do not pull the rug out from under our parents and from our grandparents who need nursing home care," Delaware Attorney General Matt Denn said. "We do not deny basic services to our neighbors who have serious disabilities. And we are not people who tell our neighbors – who are working for minimum wage – that they can’t get healthcare outside of an emergency room.”
