Tester hears local healthcare concerns
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ST. IGNATIUS – Montana Senator Jon Tester is working on his approach to healthcare legislation by touring the state to listen to what people have to say about what is and isn’t working.
On Saturday, Jan. 7, he sat down with healthcare professionals and other representatives in Lake County and the Flathead Indian Reservation at the Tribal Health Center to talk about healthcare issues.
Doctor Cara Harrop with St. Luke Community Healthcare explained to Senator Tester that she was up all night delivering babies but she wanted to take the time to speak with him.
She talked about a patient, whom she gave the fictitious name “Bob” to protect his privacy. She said “Bob” worked hard at a “mom-and-pop” hotel for years, but he could rarely afford insurance, so he often went without preventative care.
When Bob had chest pains, he went to the hospital and it was the real thing, she said. He had stents put in his arteries to save his life. But he couldn’t come up with the money for medications.
When the Affordable Care Act went into effect, he was able to get his medication and see a doctor on a regular basis. Harrop said she knows of dozens of similar stories with healthcare and medications being just out of reach for many people before the Affordable Care Act was enacted.
Kevin Howlett, director of Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Health Department, hosted the discussion. He said it could be disastrous if people are left without some kind of legislation to guide healthcare if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
“This is a challenging time,” Howlett said to Senator Tester. “No one knows for sure what will happen.”
He also said Medicaid expansion allowed 1,000 Indian people on the reservation to get healthcare access, and he worries that could end.
The Healthcare Act allowed Indian healthcare services to bill more insurance companies and Medicaid for services after people were able to obtain coverage, and it gave people more options for care and advanced services. Tester asked what happened before the expansion. Howlett said Indian healthcare facilities got by on a small budget.
“They didn’t get care,” Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council representative Patty Stevens said. It was also said that Indian Health Service dollars would run out before the year was up and the clinics were forced to deal with emergencies only.
Howlett said if the Affordable Care Act goes away and nothing replaces it, healthcare will still be provided for qualifying Indian people including Indian veterans, but it could be on a smaller level.
Healthcare providers at the meeting said the Affordable Care Act is working by giving more people access to insurance through Medicaid expansion, but the cost of health insurance premiums is something that is not working.
“They’ve gone through the roof,” one representative said.
It was noted that people who don’t qualify for Medicaid expansion are paying higher amounts for insurance coverage.
The group talked about the need to figure out how to reduce the cost of insurance premiums since the Affordable Care Act began, but they also continued to talk about the benefits for those who are now able to get insurance.
Landon Godfrey is the director of hospital operations at Providence Health Services. He said charity care was down in 2016, which is medical care for those without the ability to pay. Lake County Health Department services have also seen less people. Public Health Services Director Emily Colomeda hopes that it is the result of more people having insurance.
Anna Whiting Sorrell, director of operations and policy planning for CSKT Tribal Health Department, said more Indian women are getting services because of the Healthcare Act, and people are able to get diabetic care.
After the meeting, CSKT representative Troy Felsman said healthcare legislation affects everyone. He said he is waiting to find out if the Healthcare Act will be repealed and what, if anything, it will be replaced with. He was also waiting to see what Senator Tester will bring to legislation after his statewide tour.
“The senator has to worry about the middle class and the high cost of insurance, and the working poor and their need for insurance,” Felsman said. “We will just have to wait and see what happens with all of this.”
