November 6, 2009 5:23 PM
Washington, DC - As a candidate for Congress in 2008, I ran on the platform of reforming our healthcare system while containing costs and improving access for Staten Islanders and Brooklynites. This legislation contains laudable reforms which I support; it allows individuals to keep coverage when they leave a job and young people to remain covered under their parents’ plan, and bans discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. However, I believe that the net negatives of this bill outweigh the positive effects for Staten Island and Brooklyn residents and I will be voting no when the House considers the legislation.
The House bill being debated costs over $1 trillion. It includes a tax increase that is not indexed to inflation. Medicare Advantage, which serves approximately 40% of my seniors on Medicare, would be cut dramatically, leading to significant monthly average premium increases of $130 per person per month.
And the bill will impact hospitals on Staten Island and Brooklyn by cutting the Disproportionate Share Payment (DSH) to hospitals for uncompensated care by at least $25 million each year. The bill would penalize small businesses and could have unintended consequence of encouraging businesses to drop healthcare coverage and push people into the public option. I do not believe that the House bill goes far enough in containing the cost curve in which healthcare spending takes up a larger and larger share of our GDP.
As an elected official, I know that inaction on healthcare isn’t an option. For families in Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn, we can begin by reforming the insurance market, eliminating discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, and creating a system to help those who can’t afford insurance obtain it, while also addressing the increasing premium costs for families. We must allow cross-state border competition so people can shop for lower rates. We need to reduce the cost of medical errors. Congress should add preventive services to Medicare such as annual physicals, close the so-called “donut hole” which seniors pay for prescription drugs out of pocket, cut waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid systems and start paying for outcomes instead of procedures.
The bill currently being debated in the United States Senate does a good deal of this, but it leaves too many issues unanswered. As the House and Senate merge their two versions of healthcare reform I will continue to advocate for the families and seniors of Staten Island and Brooklyn to ensure that the best bill comes out of conference and addresses these issues which I believe are key for Staten Islanders and Brooklynites.
