To the editor:
In my 40-year career as a psychologist in Aroostook County, I was honored to serve thousands of clients and families who had Medicaid. This program allowed many people to receive mental health services who would have been unable to afford them.
Recently, I learned that the state’s reduction in Medicaid eligibility over the past several years has significantly increased the unrecoverable bad debt expense incurred by Houlton Regional Hospital due to the number of people who do not have health insurance and cannot afford to pay for their care. Another major cause of the increase in bad debt is that people who do have insurance are unable to pay the high deductibles in their plans.
The plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act proposed by Paul Ryan and currently under consideration in the House of Representatives will significantly change the method of reimbursement to the states for the Medicaid program, which potentially could result in further reductions in number of people who are eligible to receive Medicaid assistance.
The Congressional Budget Office also has estimated that millions of people who now have insurance will no longer be able to afford it if the Ryan plan is passed due to the drastic reduction in subsidies.
I am very concerned that the Ryan plan will further increase the level of unrecoverable bad debt for our hospital, negatively impacting the hospital’s ability to provide the array of services they currently offer. If the hospital needs to consolidate programs and staff to cope with the increase in unreimbursed care, certain health care services may no longer be available in our community and people may have to travel long distances to obtain them.
The Ryan plan will have a major adverse impact on the overall health of our community and other rural communities across the country. I strongly urge everyone to let our Congressional representatives know that you are concerned about how the Ryan plan will affect you, your family, and our hospital and urge them vote “No.”
Bruce Glick
Littleton
Editor’s note: This letter was intended to run in last week’s edition of the Pioneer Times, however it did not due to an editorial oversight. Although U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew his health care bill after it failed to gain enough support to pass in Congress late last week, we offer the letter this week as efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act are likely to begin again and the writer’s reasons for keeping the existing system will likely not change.
