Ron meets with rural health care providers

Ron kicked off a series of meetings in Oregon this weekend with rural health care providers to hear from them about the potentially devastating impact of cuts to Medicaid through block grants and caps on their patients.

This first meeting was in Newport at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital, which serves central Oregon coast residents and visitors.

“The stakes for people newly getting needed health care thanks to Medicaid are huge when Republicans are talking about repealing the Medicaid expansion, as well as block granting and capping this essential program,” Ron said.

“Rural health care is a crucial issue throughout Oregon, which is pioneering innovative approaches to help more people get the health care they need,” he said. “I will hold similar meetings statewide so I can hear directly from providers how their patients could lose health care if federal Medicaid funding is slashed through block grants and caps. Our goal must be to preserve the proven successes of Medicaid and build on them.”

In addition to hearing health care providers’ concerns over block grants and cuts to Medicaid, the senator’s hour-long conversation with the group also covered the topics of rising prescription drug prices, opioids, and questions over any scheme to toss out the Affordable Care Act.

“All Oregonians in every part of the state should have quality health care,” Ron said. “Any scenario where ‘repeal and replace” becomes ‘repeal and run” is a disaster.”

The meeting was held on Saturday in between Ron’s town halls in Linn County and Lincoln County. He also held a town hall meeting Sunday in Tillamook County.