Obamacare Repeal: How NY Representatives Voted

The House of Representatives, by the slimmest of margins, passed a health care bill Thursday that would repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act. But a vast majority of New York representatives — including Republicans — opposed it (see list below). The final tally was 217-213, but New York representatives voted 20-7 against, including two Republicans who voted “no” on the American Health Care Act.

Rep. John Faso, R-19, a first-term congressman whose district includes parts of the mid-Hudson Valley, announced earlier in the day Thursday that he would be voting in favor of the AHCA.

In a statement released after the bill passed, Faso said, “Acknowledging the ACA’s failures, the people’s representatives were faced with a choice: do nothing and watch millions of our citizens continue to be forced to buy insurance they cannot afford, or work together to improve a broken system. Unfortunately, Democrats offered not a single alternative. They simply obstructed any changes to the ACA. I believe the American Health Care Act (AHCA) as amended addresses the concerns I have heard from residents, businesses, providers and insurers.”

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“The AHCA contains a provision I authored to eliminate the ability of New York State as of 2020 to impose Medicaid costs on county property taxpayers,” he said. “For a typical homeowner or commercial property owner residing in the 19th District, Medicaid costs represent over 40 percent of their county property tax burden. New York’s Medicaid spending dwarfs that of most other states. For instance, New York spends more than Texas and Florida combined, even though these states have more than double our population. The provision I authored will bring much-needed property tax relief and keep people and jobs in Upstate New York.”

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-17, whose district includes parts of Westchester and Rockland counties, called the bill “disastrous.”

“Unfortunately, what we do know about TrumpCare 2.0 is that it will destroy protections for Americans with preexisting conditions, impose an age tax on older Americans, and force working families to pay more for far less coverage. In New York alone, over 2.7 million people will be left without health coverage at all,” Lowey said.

“The American people deserve open and transparent debate, and they deserve solutions that will improve their health care and their lives, not endanger them,” she said.

Naomi Post, executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund-New York, said Republicans in Congress did a grave disservice to the American people by voting to repeal the ACA.

“The latest version of the American Health Care Act contains all the same alarming elements as the one that failed in Congress a month ago. It targets America’s most vulnerable citizens, by decimating Medicaid and slashing protections for those with pre-existing conditions,” she said. “The AHCA puts New York children’s health at risk, period. It eliminates many of the child health coverage gains made over the past 50 years by radically restructuring Medicaid and guts federal protections for children with pre-existing conditions. Elected officials should be ashamed of themselves for voting to have fewer children covered, less care covered, and higher costs for families.”

Here is the final vote tally of New York representatives to repeal Obamacare:

Yes

• 1st District: Lee Zeldin, R
• 2nd District: Peter King, R
• 19th District: John Faso, R
• 21st District: Elise Stefanik, R
• 22nd District: Claudia Tenney, R
• 23rd District: Tom Reed II, R
• 27th District: Chris Collins, R

No

• 3rd District: Thomas Suozzi, D
• 4th District: Kathleen Rice, D
• 5th District: Gregory Meeks, D
• 6th District: Grace Meng, D
• 7th District: Nydia Velazquez, D
• 8th District: Kareem Jeffries, D
• 9th District: Yvette Clarke, D
• 10th District: Jerrold Nadler, D
• 11th District: Daniel Donovan Jr., R
• 12th District: Carolyn Maloney, D
• 13th District: Adriano Espaillat, D
• 14th District: Joseph Crowley, D
• 15th District: Jose Serrano, D
• 16th District: Eliot Engel, D
• 17th District: Nita Lowey, D
• 18th District: Sean Maloney, D
• 20th District: Paul Tonko, D
• 24th District: John Katko, R
• 25th District: Louise Slaughter, D
• 26th District: Brian Higgins, D

Patch file photo