What Healthcare Reform Means For Pueblo, Where 40 Percent Of People Are On Medicaid

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The U.S. Senate delayed a vote on its bill to replace the Affordable Care Act until after next week, but Republicans in Congress and the White House are still working on healthcare reform. They are grappling, in part, with a prediction that 22 million people would lose insurance coverage under the latest bill. That likely includes thousands of people in Pueblo, where more than 10 percent of the population got insurance through Medicaid because of the Affordable Care Act.

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Overall, Pueblo residents' health has improved as a result of being covered by Medicaid, according to Donald Moore, CEO of the Pueblo Community Health Center. He talked with CPR's Andrea Dukakis about what the current healthcare reform efforts mean for his community. Moore is concerned about proposed funding cuts for Medicaid, and he also worries about cuts to funds that help communities prepare for urgent public health crises like bioterrorism and disease outbreaks.