Sequester Effect on Wyoming Healthcare - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, Sports

Sequester Effect on Wyoming Healthcare

With federal budget cuts looming on Friday, organizations across the country are bracing themselves.

All signs point to our government agreeing to an $85 billion cut to the federal budget.

Local healthcare facilities like the Cheyenne Health and Wellness Center are expected to lose a large percentage of their funding.

"In a half of a year we see about 2,000 patients. If we are to lose the funding, that'll reduce our volume by over 200 patients. The amount we will lose is about $40,000," said Lynne Weidel of Cheyenne Health and Wellness Center.

Those with low income and without health insurance will be the most adversely affected. 75 percent of patients at Cheyenne Health and Wellness are without insurance. Their patients pay 20 to 25 dollars for a visit, when the cost to provide the care is about $200 per visit.

"It is our federal grant that helps make up the difference between what our patient pays and what it costs us to deliver the care," Weidel said.

Patients like Carl Schaible are very concerned how they will find healthcare if the sequester is passed.

"To me, I'm going to be without healthcare. I'd have to go to several different doctors. I have Medicare, but fewer and fewer doctors are now accepting Medicare," Schaible said.

Schaible says he's worried that our elected representatives in Washington are not doing what's best for the people they are serving.

"I think they're so far out of touch that they don't have any idea of what's going on. Maybe if they'd come visit a couple healthcare centers and look and see what's going on," Schaible said.

Executive Director of the Cheyenne Health and Wellness Center, Lynne Weidel, says the problems will be felt throughout the community.

"Patients will have a longer wait. Some patients will not be vaccinated. Other patients may not be seen at all which means then they will go to our emergency room."

Weidel likens her organization as part of a community wide safety net that's about to get cut.

"If there's a hole in our part of the net then people will fall through and that's what I see happening with the sequester," Weidel said.