Doctors flocked to Capitol Hill on Thursday to warn Congress they won’t support an Obamacare replacement that rolls back health coverage or undercuts insurance benefits.
They represent five leading medical associations that are joining pleas from the healthcare industry for Republicans to ensure low-income Americans can still afford coverage, even if they ditch the Affordable Care Act.
The groups said they were meeting with senators, mostly Republicans, to push four key priorities. They are urging that any replacement should maintain current insured levels, provide financial assistance for low-income people, retain patient protections in insurance plans, and provide for a stable transition for insurers.
Groups involved in the effort, which together represent half a million physicians and medical students, included the American College of Physicians, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Osteopathic Association.
“People need to have universal access and universal coverage,” said ACOG executive vice president Hal Lawrence.
The doctors acknowledged they’re unlikely to get all their demands in an Obamacare repeal and replace bill, which GOP lawmakers are hoping to pass using the budget reconciliation process allowing them to bypass opposition from Senate Democrats.
The groups would prefer the law wasn’t reversed at all. But they declined to weigh in specifically on how Republicans are approaching the issue, and whether a replacement to the Affordable Care Act should be passed the same time as its repeal, a question Republicans themselves are still divided on.
“Repealing and replacing are political concerns we’re not interested in addressing,” said ACP President Nitin Damle. “We are focused on what we would like to see — the patient coverage continue at the levels established by the act. Whether it’s replaced is less relevant to us than that all these coverage issues be addressed.”
If Republicans roll back the healthcare law’s subsidies and Medicaid expansion, they’ll face strong pushback from the healthcare industry, which acknowledged some ongoing problems with the law but were enthusiastic overall about its coverage expansions. Damle said any health reform that doesn’t provide all Americans with affordable coverage is “unacceptable.”
“There are certainly things we really can’t agree to,” he said.
Insurer, hospitals and other healthcare providers are also watching Congress and the new Trump administration warily. As Republicans work to repeal the law they’ve sharply criticized for years, appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services are eyeing ways to roll back the law administratively.
Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., if he’s confirmed to lead HHS, is likely to significantly change the way the law is carried out. Doctors said they’re hopeful Price will uphold their priorities, even as they acknowledged he has advocated for cutting Medicaid spending and revoking most of the healthcare law.
“He’s gonna hear from us,” said AAFP President John Meigs.
