Dueling Statements On Health Care Act Show Deep Divide between NY GOP, Democrats

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — As Congress debates health care reform, dueling statements from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and U.S. Representatives John Faso of Hudson Valley and Chris Collins of Western New York show a deep and bitter divide between Democrats and Republicans in New York. The disagreement goes wider than the GOP's plan to end Obamacare — in which Faso and Collins are architects of a section aimed at New York — and even wider than the issue of health care access for state residents.

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Republican House leadership has taken the American Health Care Act — the GOP alternative to Obamacare — to a floor vote Thursday morning. The newest iteration includes the MacArthur Amendment, to help win over conservatives in the Freedom Caucus, which allows states to opt out of Obamacare provisions, such as the "essential benefits" rule that requires insurers to provide coverage for a set of basic health care needs.

Weakening these provisions rolls back some of the protections people with pre-existing conditions gained under Obamacare, but conservatives argue the plan will lower premiums. Patients with pre-existing conditions will have the option to enter so-called "high-risk pools." Under the Upton Amendment, the government will provide an extra $8 billion over five years for the states' high-risk pools. In theory, this provides additional support to people with pre-existing conditions.

Another provision in the bill could affect people who get health insurance at work, removing limits on out-of-pocket costs for catastrophic illnesses, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Faso and Collins's part of the plan removes New York's 50-year-old process by which counties pay a share of Medicaid. It's one of those "unfunded mandates."

“If included in the AHCA, the Medicaid language would simply require Albany after 2020 to eliminate the local share of Medicaid, as virtually every other state now does," Faso said in a statement. "People continue to flee upstate New York due to lack of jobs and high property taxes."

Faso has said that New York should seek to make its Medicaid program more like Florida and Texas, which combined have more than twice the population but spend less.

When U.S. News and World Report ranked states on access to health care, New York ranked 15th, while the magazine ranked Texas No. 47 and Florida No. 49.

Last night Cuomo issued a statement criticizing Faso and Collins and predicting devastating effects on New York if the AHCA becomes law.

"As a direct result of the amendment introduced by Congressmen Faso and Collins, this provision alone would cut Medicaid funding for New York by $2.3 billion and cripple hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities across the state," Cuomo said in a statement calling for the New York delegation to vote against the AHCA. "Most disturbingly, this bill penalizes New Yorkers because we believe in reproductive rights and ensure by law that medically necessary abortions are covered by insurance carriers."

Collins and Faso said Cuomo was lying. Collins went further, saying that Medicaid funds and the state budget comprise a slush fund that Cuomo uses to reward favorites.

“As we have seen for years, he will do whatever he can to protect his slush fund, which he doles out like candy to Albany-aligned special interests," Collins said.

Here's Cuomo's whole statement:

"The Republican health care bill is an assault on women and an assault on New York. It would allow insurance companies to discriminate against Americans based on pre-existing conditions, force millions of New Yorkers to lose coverage, and slash Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars. "As a direct result of the amendment introduced by Congressmen Faso and Collins, this provision alone would cut Medicaid funding for New York by $2.3 billion and cripple hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities across the state. "Most disturbingly, this bill penalizes New Yorkers because we believe in reproductive rights and ensure by law that medically necessary abortions are covered by insurance carriers. I’m calling on all of New York’s Congressional delegation—Republican and Democrat alike—to stand up for New York values and vote against this terrible bill."The American Health Care Act will be disastrous for New York:

• The plan will leave 2.7 million New Yorkers without health care coverage.
• It will cut $4.7 billion from the state’s Medicaid budget.
• It will put at risk 7 million people who rely on Medicaid services and other programs created under the Affordable Care Act.
• And it threatens the entire New York State health care system, which serves 19.5 million New Yorkers.

The Collins/Faso amendment, which targets only New York, stops counties from paying a share of Medicaid. It would have a devastating effect on New Yorkers:

• It will cut $2.3 billion in Medicaid funding to the State. When added to the $4.7 billion cost of the ACHA over the next four years, the total cost to the State would rise to $6.9 billion
• Steep cuts would force New York State to increase taxes, slash coverage to millions of New Yorkers, or devastate health care providers:
  • Nursing Home payments would be cut by $401 million.
  • Home care payments would be cut by $360 million.
  • Hospital payments would be cut by $355 million.

The bill punishes New York for its support for women’s reproductive rights by threatening to take away citizens’ access to tax credits that are intended to make health insurance more affordable:

• New York requires that all commercial insurance policies cover abortion services. In January, Cuomo took new action to ensure that contraceptive drugs and devices are covered by commercial health insurance policies without co-pays, coinsurance or deductibles.
• The Republican health care bill would prohibit the use of tax credits to support the purchase of insurance plans that cover abortion services.
• As a result, the bill would effectively defund the Essential Plan, forcing 685,000 low-income people, half of whom are women, to lose their insurance and denying them $1.5 billion in tax credits.
• In addition, roughly 143,000 lower-income New Yorkers whose income is just above the threshold for the Essential Plan, half of whom are women, would be denied $400 million more in tax credits that help them afford insurance.

This bill also includes an amendment that will enable insurers to charge more for people with preexisting conditions in some states, rolling back a key achievement of the Affordable Care Act.

• In New York, 8.4 million people under the age of 65 have preexisting conditions.
• The MacArthur amendment would allow states to opt out of provisions that restrict providers from raising prices on people with preexisting conditions.
• Removing protections for people with pre-existing conditions will result in the sick paying high premiums and would force those who cannot afford it to lose coverage.
• The health plan would also permit states to charge older people more, which would also force people who cannot afford it to lose coverage.

Faso and Collins invoked Ronald Reagan in their response. Here's their complete statement.

“There he goes again. Mr. Cuomo continues to mislead on the legislation to relieve property taxpayers of this Medicaid burden. He uses fake numbers in an effort to scare hospitals and health providers as to 'cuts' in Medicaid spending, when Albany could achieve savings by reducing other spending in the state budget and further reform its big-spending Medicaid system. New York’s Medicaid program spends over $62 billion, more than Texas and Florida combined. Those states have more than twice New York’s population," said Congressman John Faso. “If included in the AHCA, the Medicaid language would simply require Albany after 2020 to eliminate the local share of Medicaid, as virtually every other state now does. People continue to flee upstate New York due to lack of jobs and high property taxes. No amount of deception coming from Mr. Cuomo can obscure those facts," said Faso.

“Governor Cuomo’s continued lies should come as no surprise,” said Congressman Chris Collins. “As we have seen for years, he will do whatever he can to protect his slush fund, which he doles out like candy to Albany-aligned special interests. Western and Upstate New Yorkers will rejoice at the property tax relief they will gain from this bill’s passage. Unlike Governor Cuomo, I put the needs of Western New Yorkers before any pipe-dream Presidential aspirations.”

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images News/Getty Images

By Cody Fenwick and Lanning Taliaferro