5 Reasons Doctors Oppose Repealing The Affordable Care Act

As physicians, what we find particularly alarming are dangerous attacks on Medicaid being comfortably discussed in secret by members of Congress. The AHCA would convert the program’s funding into per capita caps, resulting in $800 billion slashed from Medicaid. Senate aides have said the Senate’s schemes would be worse. Per capita caps in Medicaid mean the federal government would give each state a very small, fixed amount of money to run that state’s Medicaid program based on certain patient populations. Because AHCA ends the federal government’s open commitment to Medicaid, a state will be left with no further support if more people suddenly need the help of Medicaid because of a natural disaster, recession, disease outbreak, or other hardships. Under the drastically low funding of a per capita cap system, a state trying to maintain their Medicaid program will be left with difficult budget decisions that will hurt our patients no matter what. In order to pay for in-home long term care services, a state may cut its education or transportation funding. Children with special health needs will see their care diminish in quality because states can not afford to perform at high standards when funding is low. The Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the AHCA estimates that of the 23 million people who will lose health care coverage, 14 million will lose it because of AHCA’s drastic changes to Medicaid.