Experts: Repealing Obamacare could be 'devastating' for Oklahoma hospitals
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) - As Republicans in Congress plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, people all over the country are concerned about what happens next.
In the state of Oklahoma, about 140,000 residents are covered under Obamacare.
That includes Rozena Curran who we met during her appointment at Morton Comprehensive Health Services.
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Curran says she gets peace of mind from Obamacare, so she's happy to pay a reasonable monthly premium.
"If it wasn't made affordable, I couldn't afford insurance," said Curran, who works as an occupational rehabilitation specialist. "When I left my other job, my insurance was going to be like $700 a month and I couldn't afford that."
Rozena is better off than 50 percent of the patients who visit Morton, because half don't have any insurance. So the repeal of Obamacare could add more people to that list and increase Morton's costs.
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Morton Chief Executive Director Susan Savage says the impact would be felt by the entire state.
"When you start talking with chronic health conditions, you’re talking about affecting the work force," said Savage. "You're affecting productivity. Sick people can't work. Sick children can't learn."
Savage says the health care debate in Congress needs to be about people not politics.
"I'm hopeful this new administration will put aside these ideological differences," said Savage. "Do some analysis that really helps and creates innovations and not talking points for elected officials."
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When it comes to the future of health care, there's a range of options.
The list includes everything from more accountability to more competition for providers and the insurance companies.
James Hess is the director of Health Care Administration at the OSU Center for Health Sciences. He says there are difficult decision to be made about providing health care for the less fortunate.
"It's the moral question for the American public and American society to answer," said Hess.
He noted that sick people who aren't insured will continue to show up at our emergency rooms and we'll all pay for their care.
Right now about 15 percent of the patients at OSU Medical Center use Obamacare.
Hess says without that coverage a lot of those people would face tough choices.
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"When you're operating at the poverty level as a family and something goes wrong, what's the first thing you're going to cut out?" said Hess. "It's not going to be food. It's not going to be a car payment. It's going to be insurance, even if it's just $40 a month."
Hess says the loss of Obamacare revenue would be devastating for Oklahoma's public hospitals.
Many health professionals hope Congress will come up with a workable replacement plan.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has promised a bill sometime in late March. He says it will attempt to insure as many people as possible under more competitive market for insurance companies.
