U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., visited Liberty Regional Medical Center on Tuesday morning to discuss health-care issues with the hospital staff and physicians.

LRMC CEO Michael Hester; former Hinesville Mayor Jim Thomas, also a Liberty County Hospital Authority board member; public relations specialist Renee Harwell; and current Board Chairman James Rogers formally greeted Carter.

The group then met and ate breakfast with hospital physicians and staff to discuss health care in rural hospitals, the Affordable Care Act and the rising cost of prescription medications.

“We know the challenges that are out there, particularly for community hospitals,” Carter said.

He said rural areas, such as Liberty and Long counties, need a functioning hospital to drive economic growth.

“It is something we have to be persistent about,” Carter said. “We have to keep it going.”

“We are lucky to have an ally up there in Washington,” Hester said, explaining to those gathered about Carter’s background in pharmacy and health care. “He is out there trying to assist community hospitals.”

Carter said the bureaucracy in Washington makes it difficult to fix the health-care industry.

“It is unbelievable,” he said. “Trying to peel back the layers of that onion is just impossible.”

Carter said he would like to have the Affordable Care Act repealed and see the return of a free and open market.

“Full disclosure — I am a free-market guy,” he said. “I am an independent health-care practitioner. … All I want to do is compete and give me the opportunity to compete. … I think one of the worst things that the Affordable Care Act has done is that it has taken competition away … and it is making it difficult for small rural community hospitals to survive. And it is making it difficult not just for independent retail pharmacies, but independent health-care practitioners, period. Doctors are going towards hospital or health-care systems. Very few are independent practitioners now.”

Carter said high deductibles have impacted patient care, causing people not to seek medical attention in a timely manner, if at all.

Hester agreed, saying higher deductibles have not changed the way the patient is treated, but have caused many to postpone receiving care.

“They are delaying in getting things done and basically creating a sicker population,” he said. “People who don’t have the money to pay for their regular wellness visits or any potential surgeries that they may need … so I think it is creating a sicker country because of those challenges.”

Hester added that higher premiums are hurting the pubic as well.

“The unemployment rate may be the same as it was back in 2008, but the average wage is not. … You have less income to support these higher premiums,” he said. “We have definitely seen an outpatient volume decrease. People are choosing not to have surgery done or, if they are they are choosing to have it done, at a later date at the risk of their health.”

Thomas talked about the large population in Liberty County that is dependent on TRICARE and how the funding for that program was reduced substantially in 2015. He said it is important for Congress to revisit TRICARE funding in the future.

“When we take another trip to Washington to talk about TRICARE, we would like to get your office to assist us,” Thomas said to Carter.

Staff members and physicians spoke about the rising costs in keeping up with Medicare compliance laws, software implementation based on federal guidelines and the liability issues.

One physician spoke out, saying he would not like to see the ACA completely repealed. He said the health-care law has its flaws but also has components that benefit the hospitals, patients and physicians providing care.

The group talked about Medicare reimbursement rates being below costs and the rising costs of medications.

Carter said he will attend a meeting next week to discuss the rising cost of medication, which can hurt a patient’s pocketbook as well as wreak havoc on a hospital’s budget.

“We can’t ignore the fact pharmaceuticals have increased by 16 percent from last year,” he said. “Far above anything else.”

“I represent the 1st District,” Carter went on to say. “And it has a lot of rural areas and a lot of community hospitals, and it is very important that they stay viable and stay in business. … Communities depend on them not only for the health care that they provide and in keeping our citizens healthy, but also for the economic development. Companies are not going to want to come to areas that don’t have good health care. And what they (hospitals and patients) want to see is just a fair reimbursement where they are not having to get reimbursed below cost. And they want to see less government intervention and less rules and regulation, and that is the message I am trying to take to Washington, D.C.”