Murray leaders react to Supreme Court decision

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June 29, 2012

Murray leaders react to Supreme Court decision

Mark Millican markmillican@daltoncitizen.com The Dalton Daily Citizen Fri Jun 29, 2012, 06:25 AM EDT

CHATSWORTH — Officials in the medical community and with a political party here took different views — one hopeful and one fearful — of the U.S. Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision on the health care overhaul.

Roy Orr, the chief executive officer of Murray Medical Center, said he was “surprised” at the ruling but believes it will be beneficial to Murray County in whatever form the law eventually takes.

“I thought they would overturn the (individual) mandate,” he said. “I don’t think as we go down the road this law is going to stand in the long run. As it is currently I think it will be modified and needs to be modified. Exactly how, I am not sure — I’m not that much of an expert.”

But he said the Medicaid section specifically could benefit the county.

“I think one of the main ways it has the potential to impact Murray County and Murray Medical Center is the provision that makes more people eligible for Medicaid,” he elaborated. “Our emergency department is already flourishing and we get close to maximum capacity on occasion now. In addition, several tens of thousands of people in the state — how many of those would be in Murray County I’m not sure — are on Medicaid rolls and would be eligible for care in the ER ... So I see that as being a good thing in a sense, because a lot of our people are without any type of coverage, but it has its downsides in the fact that it may throw additional stress on the existing infrastructure of hospitals and may bog up the ERs even more than they are now.”

The Supreme Court may have helped Murray Medical stay open, Orr said

“Our goal as a hospital and hospital authority at this point is very simple,” he said, “and that is to keep the doors of the hospital open. We want to take care of the health needs of the people of Murray County, and quite frankly, any funding source that they have benefits the hospital. Therefore, the community benefits because not only do the people get the cure (for their illnesses), but the ripples of that benefit will be felt throughout the community. So overall, I think in its strictest sense it’s not going to be a real impediment to health care in Murray County. The debate is the overall cost over time and how the small business employers — which there’s a lot of in Murray County — can survive. What’s anticipated (are) even more aggressive increases in health insurance costs, I think that’s the unknown, what we can’t predict.

“So I’m surprised, but we will adapt to whatever the program ends up being or (how) it’s modified. In the relatively short run, I think some people in Murray County may have better coverage than they have now, so we may be able to expand our outreach in the community.”

Scott Minter, a member of the Murray County Republican Party executive committee, said the court’s upholding of the individual mandate has “for all intents and purposes removed any remaining limitations on the power of the federal government.”

“In my opinion, Congress can now force citizens to buy or do almost anything and enforce it by levying a ‘tax’ upon us if we fail to comply,” he said. “This ruling is a huge blow to personal liberty, because there is now no facet of our lives that the government can’t regulate. Never before in the history of our country has the government required citizens to purchase goods or services from other citizens. With this ruling, the federal government’s power to control the lives of American citizens is almost unlimited.”

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Murray leaders react to Supreme Court decision

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