U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen spoke against patient loss of Medicaid coverage during a tour of an OSF HealthCare facility in Peoria.
Sorensen, D-Moline, toured the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit [NICU] at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria on Thursday. He discussed the local impact coming from cuts to Medicaid included in the GOP's massive tax cut and spending plan signed by President Trump in July.
“The reality is that cutting Medicaid means that we're cutting people off of their healthcare,” said Sorensen.
Changes include a work requirement, something Sorensen describes as more of a paperwork requirement for patients to ensure their care does not go away.
“We need to make sure that able-bodied people are a part of our society, absolutely,” he said. “But we shouldn't be saying that this is a litmus test for whether or not you can get your cancer treatment, because that's cruel.”
Effect on rural care
Sorensen particularly criticized the effect Medicaid eligibility requirement changes will have on rural hospitals. The congressman, who represents parts of Peoria and Bloomington-Normal, mentioned the 2022 closure of Galesburg Cottage Hospital in Western Illinois that was forced to close by loss of Medicare and Medicaid funding. OSF HealthCare and other health providers in the area saw an increased need for care after the hospital went away.
“Luckily, OSF was able to move around people and move around expertise to make sure that we could have the safety net for Western Illinois,” said Sorensen. “But going forward, if Medicaid isn't reimbursed, then we're going to have tough decisions here, and people are going to move away.”
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services cut funding due to lack of compliance with rules that maintain a standard of patient and employee safety. The hospital was found to be understaffed and mismanaged.
For OSF, nearly a quarter of patient care is covered by Medicaid. Mike Wells, president of OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, said the OSF network has been responding to restrictions in Medicaid eligibility over about the past year. Certain patients previously covered by Medicaid have lost such coverage as eligibility requirements have shifted.
“We've increased by tens of millions of dollars over the past year in charity care, which means we cover the cost of that care,” said Wells. “And so for us, we continue to serve the patients that we need to serve, and whether that means charity care, being more efficient, making sure that we're able to do more with less, we've done that.”
Wells added an example in the OSF telemedicine program. Telemedicine has allowed OSF to monitor and care for patients remotely in situations where such care is appropriate.
Sorensen said the “burdensome” regulations forcing OSF to pay for care previously covered by Medicare must be reformed.
“The millions of dollars that OSF has to pay to figure out who can get the services they need, or the insurance reimbursement, or the Medicaid reimbursement, it all doesn't work, right? Let's fix that problem,” said Sorensen.
