Patients, providers urge Congress to protect health coverage

At an event today in Denver, patients and health care providers highlighted concerns with health reform proposals being discussed in Congress, including the recently released U.S. Senate proposal. Speakers included a cancer survivor, diabetes patient, mother of premature twins, two physicians and the CEO of a 15-bed critical access hospital. “In rural Colorado, where I work, there are some areas where 40% of the patients seen in hospitals and clinics are on Medicaid,” said Trampas Hutches, CEO of Melissa Memorial Hospital in Holyoke, CO. “If these proposed cuts take place, devastation would occur for local rural economies due to hospitals closing and patients incurring huge amounts of debt.” Organized by the AHA, AARP, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Medical Association, Federation of American Hospitals, March of Dimes and others, the event was the third in a series around the country urging Congress to protect coverage for patients, including one last week in Reno, NV.