Faso: “It is a very complicated thing”
KINGSTON – Changes to the Affordable Healthcare Act, anticipated
as a priority for the new presidential administration starting in 2017,
may take several years to hammer out, Congressman John Faso told business
leaders Wednesday in Kingston.
The discussion was Rep. Faso’s first major speaking appearance in
Ulster County, since taking office in January. “It is a very complicated
thing; there are multiple moving parts taking place at the same time,
and there’s going to be much political argument and debate, about
the various points that will be considered,” he said.
He said the issues are going to be “very contentious,” Faso
said, noting whatever is decided later this year in the form must be accomplished
on a bipartisan basis.
Faso said that budgetary reconciliation changes will come first, followed
by regulatory reform at Health and Human Service with statutory changes
hammered out several years down the road.
Priorities include preserving health care for people now receiving coverage,
and preventing further collapse of the insurance pools. Faso also indicated
that New York’s Medicaid system is overreaching, covering a third
of the state population, and eating up about 15 percent of the system
nationwide.
“The ACA has done many good things. The ban on pre-existing conditions
to bar someone from buying insurance is a good idea,” Faso said.
He also approves of allowing children up to the age of 26 to be included
on a parent’s health plan.
However, many employers are limiting their staff to part-time, or keeping
the company size below 50 employees, in order to avoid some of the financial
burdens associated with Obamacare. Premiums have gone up, and availability
of optional plans has dwindled, he added.
Asked about single payer options, Faso replied that monolithic solutions
to health care problems can grow into complicated bureaucracy, with longer
waiting times and fewer innovative treatments. Other choices should be
made available for those to those willing to pay up front for certain
procedures, he said.
The packed room was made extra tight by police presence stationed there
to guard against the crowd of protesters standing outside in the chilly
damp morning air. Democrats are gearing up for a weekend of civil disobedience
in defiance of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday.
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