Statement from Mark Taubman, M.D., CEO of URMC on the American Health Care Act

 The American Health Care Act (AHCA), as presently constructed, will have significant negative consequences for UR Medicine, our patients and families, and the communities we serve.  

UR Medicine is the region’s largest provider of care to Medicaid, Medicare, and uninsured patients.  Collectively, our institutions serve 15 counties with a population of more than 2.6 million people, and directly employ 20,000 individuals.  We are committed to improving access and providing quality care, while reducing cost.

However, these efforts could be severely undermined with the passage of the AHCA.  The Medicaid cuts proposed in the legislation, coupled with the anticipated reduction in insurance coverage that would follow the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and proposals to change New York State’s formula of collecting Medicaid revenue that would produce a $2.3 billion funding gap, would result in significant payment reductions to hospitals and long-term care facilities, including UR Medicine and its affiliates. 

While the details of the AHCA continue to evolve, at this point New York State estimates that UR Medicine and its affiliates could lose $36 million in Medicaid revenue per year.    These cuts would severely threaten our ability to provide care to our communities’ most vulnerable patients, impede our ability to provide a continuum of care, and hinder efforts to train the region’s health care workforce and attract and retain the highly-skilled providers that serve us all.

For these reasons, we strongly encourage the members of our Congressional delegation to reject this legislation in its current form.