GOP Health Bill Author Dismisses Gripes From 'Medical Industrial Complex'

[DonViejo]

By ALICE OLLSTEIN Published MARCH 8, 2017, 5:12 PM EDT

Opposition to the the GOP bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act continued to emerge on Wednesday—the bill's second day in the public eye—with statements condemning the bill from groups representing doctors, nurses, hospitals, and the elderly.

Mobbed by reporters as he emerged from casting an afternoon vote, the bill's author Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) brushed off the latest round of criticism, saying the thousands of hospitals and hundreds of thousands of doctors are part of a "medical industrial complex" that opposes major reforms to Medicaid.

"The hospitals came out against Medicaid reform before they ever saw the bill," said Walden, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "But, you know, we understand that there's a pretty big medical industrial complex that when you touch it, it touches back."

Walden said he found the hospital organizations' staunch opposition to his bill "sort of shocking," because it includes a provision the hospitals very much want: a restoration of the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) funding that was scaled back under the Affordable Care Act.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/walden-medical-industrial-complex

[Docreed2003]

1. That's a riot....

Let's make doctors and hospitals the real enemy here, not that we don't share some culpability, nevermind the real "medical industrial complex" is the fucking insurance companies leaching billions from Americans without providing real coverage or refusing to provide coverage without a fight from doctors and hospitals. Why would doctors and hospitals be opposed??? Because they know this plan is a huge give away to the insurance companies, the monitary stability brought to the system through the ACA will be gone resulting in many community and rural hospitals and practices closing, and the onslaught of no pay or no insurance patients will overwhelm most hospitals, because most hospitals will provide care even when patients can't afford that care, in most circumstances.