'They Abandon Patients': Lucy McBath Demands Easy Access To Life-Saving Medications

6 months ago

At a House Education Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) asked Founder and President of FCP, LLC. Ali Khawar about medication access.

Transcript

00:00The gentlelady from Georgia, Ms. McBath.

00:03Thank you, Chairman Allen and Ranking Member Desaunye.

00:08The Employee Benefits Security Administration has the important responsibility of protecting

00:13the health benefits of over 150 million hardworking Americans on employer-sponsored health insurance.

00:20And, unfortunately, a growing number of Americans who have put in their time at work

00:25and paid into their health care plans are not receiving the health benefits that they are entitled to under the federal law.

00:33With the increasing complexity of the health care system, the Employee Benefits Security Administration's responsibilities

00:40have grown significantly over the years, yet the agency remains chronically underfunded and understaffed.

00:48And the lack of resources at this agency means that employees continue to wait on their health care benefits

00:54and investigations are delayed when trying to stop bad actors who take advantage of the patients.

01:02Last session, Chairman McAllen and I, we sent a letter to the Employee Benefits Security Administration

01:08about our concern over alternative funding programs in health insurance.

01:14Under the guise of saving money, alternative funding programs are pushing health plans to exclude certain medications.

01:22They abandon patients, leaving them to seek out assistance programs that are already overloaded.

01:30Ultimately, and far too often, these patients unexpectedly have to shoulder the full cost of, oftentimes,

01:38their life-saving medications or experience delays that can result in harmful complications.

01:44And no one should ever have to wait for a life-saving treatment.

01:48Trust me, I know, I'm a two-time breast cancer survivor.

01:52And the reality is, is not everyone can actually wait for a life-saving treatment.

01:59The cases that have been submitted to the Employee Benefits Security Administration,

02:03they tell the stories of people who are just basically at their wit's end.

02:08Needing help to fight an insurance denial for their life-saving treatment or begging for oversight

02:15to investigate alternative funding programs that have cut off access to the care the patient thought that they had.

02:23And while the agency is tasked with this important role that has financial and profoundly personal impacts,

02:30for all those in our health care system, years of underfunding and budget cuts have threatened to undermine its original intent and mission.

02:40Just this year, we have seen career federal employees pushed out of their jobs,

02:46and an additional $10 million in cuts that are still being proposed.

02:52On behalf of the millions of Americans in this country who rely on health insurance through their jobs,

02:58it is our duty to support oversight and to cut through the red tape and to protect those patients' lives.

03:09Mr. Kalwar, if you will, what impact would strong investments in the Employee Benefits Security Administration

03:19have on its ability to better protect health coverage for the American people?

03:25Thank you for that question, and I agree with everything that you've said.

03:29I mean, investing in this agency means investing in the Americans that are struggling with insurance company red tape today.

03:37It is investing in Americans who have done the right thing and saved through their job in their retirement

03:44and want to make sure that that retirement is there when they ultimately reach the right age.

03:49Unfortunately, with the budget cuts, it is hard to see how the agency is going to be able to continue to successfully achieve its mission.

03:59Things like the Benefit Advisor Program are going to be really heavily impacted.

04:04investigations are going to be very heavily impacted.

04:07They are going to take longer.

04:09The agency is going to be able to do fewer of them.

04:13And there are going to be people that are really in need of help, who deserve the government's help,

04:18that aren't going to be able to get it.

04:20And it is 100 percent going to be because of resource constraints.

04:23So why has the workforce at EBSA declined so dramatically, if you can tell us?

04:30And what can just really be done about it?

04:34Yeah, I mean, there is a long-term problem of chronic underfunding.

04:38Costs increase, and when budgets don't, then that means you have to find somewhere.

04:43I think it is something like 70, 75 percent is about the percentage of EBSA's budget that is kind of taken up by just pure personnel costs.

04:53And so as very normal things and appropriate things like increasing salaries to account for inflation, that money needs to come from somewhere.

05:04And when you don't have many other places to look, the place you end up having to look is by reducing your head count.

05:11So there is a longer-term issue here.

05:14The proximate cause, however, is, you know, since January, there has been a pretty concerted effort to push federal employees out of their jobs.

05:22EBSA has not been immune to that.

05:24And so there has been a, as far as I can recall, pretty unprecedented attrition rate in the last few months.

05:32Well, thank you so very much, and I'm out of time.

'They Abandon Patients': Lucy McBath Demands Easy Access To Life-Saving Medications

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