U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon convened a roundtable discussion in Eugene Wednesday to highlight issues he said come from recent changes by the Republican-led federal government.
The Democrat highlighted issues with funding for hospitals, loss of federal benefits, a decrease in rural providers and reproductive health during a roundtable at Planned Parenthood’s Eugene-Springfield Health Center.
“As you know, the Republicans made this huge mistake by not going ahead with the [Affordable Care Act] tax credits, and people’s premiums have gone through the stratosphere,” said Wyden. “We’re looking at ways to hold premiums down. And I see my job to do part of that effort is to rein in big pharma and big insurance.”
Wyden and guests highlighted issues specific to their fields.
“We are, of course, seeing an increased lack of trust in recommendations from government,” said Lane County Health and Human Services Director Eve Gray. “This has not happened before in my lifetime where federal and state authorities are recommending opposing things.”
She mentioned recent measles cases, including two in Linn County.
Also among the topics was changes to Medicaid, including restrictions that prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving reimbursement for care due to its status as an abortion provider.
“We immediately lost 70% of our revenue from patient services,” said Amy Handler, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon. “Which is all of the Medicaid revenue that we would be able to bill Medicaid for. We were barred from billing Medicaid for reimbursement this past year.”
The provision Handler mentioned was part of the Republican-approved spending and tax bill, which President Trump refers to as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Wyden mentioned how other cuts to Medicaid are particularly impacting rural health care across the country as they see more patients who are not insured and cannot cover medical bills.
“On the floor of the Senate, I remember Sen. [Susan] Collins and others saying ‘oh, we’re going to give all of this money to people in rural areas who are going to get affected,’ and I said, ‘I don’t see it.’”
Wyden said he’s hopeful for changes that he said would improve the situation. He said he’s working with Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, who heads the Senate Finance Committee, on some health care reforms, particularly around pharmacy benefit management and telemedicine issues as well as community health center support.
He expects those reforms to make it through near the end of the year when items that require tax extensions are usually taken up.
