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Pre-existing conditions gone for good, Walden vows Jessica Sage listens as cardiologist Junyang Lou reads a statement via Skype to Greg Walden about keeing the Affordable Care Act during a meeting Friday between Oregon District 2 Indivisible leaders and the Republican congressman. Mail Tribune / Denise Baratta Friday Feb 3, 2017 at 6:22 PM Feb 3, 2017 at 6:53 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Walden told members of local protest group Indivisible Friday that "we're not going back to the days of pre-existing conditions and back to the days of lifetime caps." Following demonstrations Tuesday in Medford by about 350 people from the local Indivisible chapter and Moveon.org, Walden staffers invited members of Indivisible to his field office for a teleconference Friday afternoon. Walden was in Washington, D.C., and about five local protesters talked to him via an online link. "After the protest at the office I said to the team, 'Let's invite people in so we can have a reasonable, thoughtful discussion,' " Walden said. Jessica Sage of Indivisible said she was concerned that congressional Republicans would yield to President Trump's efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act at the expense of locals who had benefited from it. "We are gravely concerned that Republicans like you will follow him (the president) blindly simply to toe the party line," Sage told Walden at the meeting. During the teleconference, Medford cardiologist Dr. Junyang Lou told Walden his clinic has seen a roughly 20 percent increase in outpatient visits since the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2013 — most of them being new patients through the Oregon Health Plan. "We discovered early on that many of these patients, due to a lack of regular health care previously, they'd show up with serious and ominous cardiovascular symptoms," Lou said. "Their primary care physicians took one look at them and called us right away for help." By stabilizing the patients with preventive procedures and medication regimens, cardiologists were able to improve patients' health while steering them away from costly emergencies such as heart attacks, according to Lou.  "Most of these patients will then need long-term followup for their cardiovascular conditions," Lou said. "I'm sure you understand that the potential repeal of ACA could throw these patients back in limbo and seriously impact their health." Cathy Dombi with Indivisible told Walden she was worried about how the congressman would change the health care law, saying people with pre-existing conditions would lose their access to health care again. "That is causing incredible angst and insecurity for many, many of us," Dombi said. Walden (R-Hood River), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said health care is an issue he's cared about deeply since his time in the state Legislature in the early 1990s, and he helped implement the Oregon Health Plan in a bipartisan committee in 1991. Walden said he supported keeping adult children on parents' plans and opposed denying coverage for pre-existing conditions before the Affordable Care Act was a law. Walden said he's a lead sponsor on legislation introduced earlier Friday to ensure people with pre-existing conditions keep access to insurance. "Whatever you're reading, whatever they're telling you, at least from this one member of Congress who happens to chair a pretty important committee, we're not going back to the days of pre-existing conditions and back to the days of lifetime caps. Period," Walden said. In response to spikes in the cost of prescription drugs, Walden said he's working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on legislation allowing the Food and Drug Administration to speed generics along. "The only way they (prescription drug companies) can corner a market and jack up the price is if there's no alternative," Walden said. Walden said five states have just one individual insurer left. "And if you listen to their earnings calls and what they tell their investors, they're not sure they're hanging around for next year," Walden said. When Dombi pressed whether the individual mandate (a $695 penalty for not having health insurance) would remain in the years ahead, Walden said no, but added there are "other ways to get at this." To draw younger and healthier people into the system, Walden said he's hoping to adopt a model similar to Medicare Part D, in which people pay lower premiums if they sign up prior to health conditions developing. Walden said there's no requirement to sign up for Part D as a senior citizen. "But if you don't sign up when you're eligible, then if you do join later — like when you're sick and suddenly need prescriptions — you pay more," Walden said. "That's the way the pooling works." Participants in the teleconference were dismayed the congressman wouldn't commit to a town hall meeting in the Medford area by the end of the month. Walden did, however, commit to one by the end of the year. He said he has town halls in every county he serves once a year. Prior to the meeting, organizers expressed concern Walden hasn't held a town hall meeting in the Medford area since 2015. Walden's last Jackson County town hall was in Rogue River last spring, according to Troy Ferguson, Walden's constituent services manager in Medford. Walden will hold a town hall event over the telephone at 10:45 a.m. Monday, Feb. 6. Walden will conduct the town hall from his office in the U.S. Capitol, and participants can listen in. Those with questions will be able to ask them when prompted. The event will include poll questions people can vote on. People unable to participate can leave voicemails for Walden after the call concludes. To sign up, see https://walden.house.gov/contact-greg/telephone-townhall-signup-form. For more information, call Walden's Medford office at 541-776-4646. Sage expressed disappointment Walden wouldn't commit to monthly teleconferences on other issues of importance to Indivisible, though Walden said he was happy to have "regular communication" with its organizers. "I felt like he did a great job of listening, but he didn't really hear us," Sage said. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.