Miner Queries | Cherie Miner

Are congressional Republicans delusional?

As I was driving to my work site last week, I was listening to NPR and a story about Senate Republicans’ effort to repeal Obamacare. After the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score of their plan revealed 22 million Americans would lose their insurance, they were faced with a dilemma: Repeal Obamacare, making their narrow, ill-informed base happy, or face the anger of the majority voters who’ve figured out this policy would destroy their access to healthcare.

“Are these guys delusional?” I thought. “How can congresspeople expect their base voters to stay happy once they realize they can no longer get health care?”

That’s the rub. Obamacare was the Republican health care plan. But as soon as President Obama’s name was attached to it, Republicans declared it evil. Instead of educating the public about how the plan works, they spread fear and misinformation. People still don’t understand the benefits they’ve received.

For example, those annual checkups you can get without co-pays and deductibles? That’s not your insurance plan being generous. That’s Obamacare regulations requiring insurers to fully cover preventative care.

Meanwhile, ill-informed voters accessing healthcare via Obamacare subsidies and Medicaid expansion don’t realize they are about to lose their health insurance coverage.

Additionally, they are on the verge of losing access to actual care because the Republican plan, which is a big fat tax cut for the wealthy, will severely cut Medicaid. “But I’m not on Medicaid,” you may be thinking.

Yes, but your county hospital has been able to stay open thanks to Medicaid expansion reimbursing them for more of the patients they treat, not to mention more patients having insurance because of Obamacare.

As Bruce Japsen wrote in a Feb. 7 Forbes article, according to Michael Topchik, national leader at the Chartis Center for Rural Health and senior vice president at iVantage Health Analytics, “Rural hospitals, many of which are operating on razor-thin margins, saw a statistically significant improvement of their bottom line in Medicaid expansion states.”

Here in Montgomery County we’ve benefited with the expansion of our hospital. When my parents were battling cancer in the 90s, they had to drive to Omaha for their treatments. But thanks to the new Oncology Center, patients can get treatments closer to home. In fact, we can get much of our health care in Red Oak.

But, rural hospitals may be one of the first casualties of the Republican health care legislation, because the legislation not only seeks to destroy Obamacare, it lays the groundwork to destroy Medicaid. And this means not only no local care, but a further depressed local economy as hospital jobs disappear.

Are congressional Republicans willing to destroy one-sixth of our economy simply to chalk up a political “win?” Have they really placed party over country? It certainly seems so.

Voters better not take that chance. We need to make clear health care is a right we expect Congress to protect.

Call Senators Grassley and Ernst now and tell them to vote “no” on the Senate health care bill.

Cherie Miner is a local parent, community volunteer, freelance writer and artist. In a former life, she was a corporate writer and public relations professional. Contact her at news@redoakexpress.com or on Facebook.