Salem doctors, nurses ask lawmakers to fight harder against cuts to Medicaid

Hundreds of doctors, nurses and health care providers around the state — including nearly 50 in Marion and Polk counties — have signed a joint letter asking that Oregon’s representatives in Salem and in Washington D.C. do everything in their power to prevent cuts to Medicaid.

The U.S. Senate is considering deep cuts to the insurance program for low-income people, known as the Oregon Health Plan. A package coined the “One Big Beautiful Bill” would reduce access to care with changes such as new work requirements, and limit funding for states like Oregon that provide coverage to immigrants without legal status. 

Some key provisions saw major setbacks in the chamber on Thursday.

One in three Oregonians is insured through the Oregon Health Plan, around 1.5 million people. In Marion County, it’s 41% of the population.

The proposed federal legislation as written currently would cause nearly 300,000 people to lose their coverage across Oregon, according to a study by Princeton University reported by OPB. It’s the biggest loss of coverage of any state, accounting for population size.

“That will cost lives,” said Trevor Phillips, an emergency room doctor and former Salem city councilor. He’s one of the first names on the list of over 600 health care professionals who have signed the letter. Over 150 more have reached out to add their names since its publication, according to Phillips.

READ IT: Letter to Oregon and federal lawmakers

The letter describes the likely impacts of the cuts, from closures of rural health care facilities operating on thin margins to deaths and bankruptcies in Oregon households. It asks state and federal legislators to emphatically reject the cuts.

“Stand up for what is right for Oregon. Protect health care funding, access, and coverage for all Oregonians,” the letter says.

Several Oregon lawmakers are pushing back against the cuts, including U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats. U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, Oregon’s sole Republican in Congress, was also the only Oregon vote for the bill. His district includes a large swath of eastern and southern Oregon which have high rates of Medicaid enrollment.

Salem’s medical specialties represented on the list include family medicine, psychiatry, gynecology and surgery. Northwest Human Services CEO Kimberly Leathley and Katie Dobler, vice president of Salem Health Medical Group, are also on the list. 

Dobler, in an emailed statement to Salem Reporter, said Salem Health treats anyone who needs it, even if they don’t have insurance or an ability to pay. 

Fewer people insured through Medicaid “means more uncompensated care, fewer resources to hire and retain providers, and harder decisions about which services we can afford to offer. Along with many other clinics across Oregon, changes this significant will impact our ability to serve our community,” she said. 

Dobler said the cuts would especially impact children, people with disabilities and working families. Medicaid covers 44% of births in Oregon. It’s a payment system which Salem Health has previously said is already straining resources. 

“If this bill passes, people will delay care until it becomes an emergency, and conditions that are treatable will become life-threatening. The safety net will become even more strained. This isn’t just about policy; it’s about real lives, real families, and real consequences for our community,” Dobler said.

The list of signatories includes a significant showing from doctors and nurses in Salem Health’s emergency department. Phillips said more of his colleagues plan to add their names. 

They’ll be seeing the impacts firsthand, he said, as patients travel further to get help or delay preventative care until it becomes an emergency.

Based on recent research from Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania, Phillips estimated that over 600 Oregonians will die preventable deaths because of those issues. 

“They wouldn’t need to die if we just funded health care,” he said.

Dr. Kyle Hoesterey, a Salem emergency medicine doctor, described the proposed changes as an “existential threat” to healthcare in the United States, which has been strained since the pandemic.

“There are a lot of really big workforce challenges in medicine right now,” he said. “I think that if this makes conditions harder, it’s only going to worsen those problems.”

Trip to Washington D.C.

The situation is dire enough that Dr. Tony Germann, who works at the Salud Medical Center in Woodburn, flew to Washington D.C. this week to talk with lawmakers. He went as part of a group of Oregon members of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The clinic where he works is part of the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, a Washington-based group that serves patients in agricultural areas.

“The state of Oregon is highly dependent on Medicaid. We have structured innovatively and creatively to provide more access to health care and health care coverage through (the Oregon Health Plan). We as a state stand to suffer more of the consequences comparatively to other states,” Germann said. 

He said about 70% of his patients depend on Medicaid.

“These cuts will really impact us and hurt us in our ability to deliver care,” he said. “It threatens our livelihood, quite frankly.”

He said the cuts and lack of access will mean poor health outcomes for patients.

“People are going to miss medications. People are going to stop going for interventions that would be recommended, whether that’s a surgery or a procedure. We’re worried about more people going to the emergency department,” Germann said.

Germann spent two days in D.C. speaking with legislators, including Bentz. Germann said he emphasized that health care providers are often the largest employers in rural Oregon areas, and rely heavily on Medicaid.

In a May 14 post on X, Bentz said he knows the importance of Medicaid, but supported the provisions preventing “ineligible and illegal persons from wrongful participation.”

“That was a collegial conversation, (with Bentz) sharing more information that I think he needs to consider. I don’t think we see eye to eye on it, but it was a productive conversation to bring awareness to his own rural communities and the rural hospitals and districts suffering the fate of probably closure,” Germann said.

The U.S. Senate will vote on the bill by July 4.

Phillips said he and his colleagues are prepared to speak loud and clear about the “death and harm and horrible outcomes” of the proposed federal cuts.

“We want to invite all the state leaders and the federal delegation in to have conversations with us so we can express our concerns,” Phillips said. “We’re having trouble even getting at the table.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly paraphrased Katie Dobler, who said “regardless of their ability to pay,” not “ability to care.” Salem Reporter apologizes for the error.

Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.

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