There are many things about providing affordable health care for all Americans that are hard. It’s hard to reach an agreement on an issue that affects every state in our nation differently. It’s hard deciding who should pay which bills. It’s hard working with colleagues with whom you’ve been arguing for years. It might even be hard to decide between giving financial relief to those that can’t afford climbing insurance premiums or to make sure that all sick people get the help they need.
However, it’s not hard to realize that none of this will matter if we don’t have any doctors to accept the insurance plan Sen. Orrin Hatch and his colleagues decide on — a real possibility facing our nation if the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2017 and the Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education program are not both funded and passed by Sept. 30.
Sen. Hatch is not only the chairman of the committee currently holding up the bill that will ensure America has enough doctors, he's also on the committee over health, which should be championing the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program (TCHGME). The TCHGME program currently provides 10,000 health care workers to underserved areas. If the Senate fails to enact this bill by Sept. 30, that funding will end and community health centers, rural centers operated by the Indian Health Service and other underserved areas will lose access to health care. Many of Utah’s own underserved areas will suffer as we lose 732 residency spots, further increasing the physician shortage.
Sen. Hatch holds the power to enable thousands of doctors to prevent diseases and treat others as early as possible. He has the ability to strengthen our public health system by making sure those who are at greatest risk of getting sick and not having the resources they need to get well again have resources. We won’t have to pay for medications and procedures to treat diseases that we prevent. He has the ability to be one of the heroes in this health care crisis. Sen. Hatch, please put on your cape and call a hearing for these vital bipartisan bills.
Kaitlyn Dressman
Alpine