Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Republican leaders are steering the Senate toward a crucial vote on their bill eviscerating much of the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s health care law. The pending vote has been buoyed by the near theatrical return to the Capitol of the ailing Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

On Monday McCain announced through his office that he would be back in Washington for the critical roll call on beginning debate on the legislation. The 80-year-old has been at home in Arizona since he revealed last week that he’s undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

Meanwhile, Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) said he’ll oppose any healthcare legislation that comes out of the U.S. Senate that does not include an amendment that removes the local cost of Medicaid.

Reed released a statement on Monday and reiterated it during his weekly conference call with the media, saying that the Faso-Collins Amendment that was included in the final house version of the American Health Care Act also needs to be included in any final version the Senate puts forth.

“Standing with our local taxpayers is something I care deeply about and this opportunity -to do the right thing by putting the burden at the state capitol that controls medicaid, and can design medicaid, and therefore is ultimately responsible for that system – to me is the right thing to do,” Reed said. “Without it in the legislation I just don’t feel comfortable moving forward with the Senate health bill if it doesn’t have that provision in it.”

The Faso-Collins Amendment – sponsored by Republican congressman Chris Collins and John Faso of New York, would requires every state in the country to assume all costs of Medicaid.  It is specifically aimed at New York State, which is currently the only state in the country that still requires local county governments to pay a portion of the Medicaid cost.

The argument in favor of the amendment is that it would help reduce local property taxes but eliminating the Medicaid burden. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other state leaders have argued against the bill, saying the removal of the local share would drive up costs at the state level by $2.3 billion – meaning the state would likely have to find ways to offset that increase, including the possibility of reducing local aid.

In Chautauqua County for the 2017 budget which totals $233 million, a total of $30.3 million was budgeted for Medicaid.

It was reported last week that major portions of the Senate Republican health bill — including the Faso-Collins Amendment — likely will end up on the cutting room floor, thanks to a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian, who ruled that major portions of the health bill are policy-making measures that can be struck from the bill unless 60 senators vote to keep them.

With Republicans struggling to even get the 50 votes they need to pass the health bill, the ruling puts Democrats in the position where they could challenge and defeat several provisions in the bill, from the Faso-Collins amendment to a provision barring federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

However, it’s appearing more and more likely they won’t be able to make good on their seven-year effort, at least for the foreseeable future.

Two GOP senators – Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) – sealed the fate of the Senate version of the American Health Care Act late Monday when each announced they would vote “no” in an initial, critical vote that had been expected as soon as next week.

The announcement meant that at least four of the 52 GOP senators were ready to block the measure – two more than Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had to spare in the face of a wall of Democratic opposition.

The implosion leaves a divided GOP with its flagship legislative priority in tatters, and confronts a wounded President Donald Trump and congressional leaders with dicey decisions about addressing the perhaps unattainable promise of repealing President Barack Obama’s law.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Senate Republican leaders are trotting out their new, but reeling, health care bill and angling toward a showdown vote next week amid signs that they have lots of work ahead to win over GOP lawmakers or face a resounding failure.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., planned to present the revamped measure rolling back much of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act to GOP senators Thursday.

He’s aiming at a do-or-die vote next week on whether to begin debating the bill – a roll call for which he’s got little to no margin for error. Since Democrats uniformly oppose the effort, McConnell needs the votes of 50 of the 52 GOP senators to prevail.

Chautauqua County’s representative in Congress, Corning Republican Tom Reed, said he’s not going to predict how the vote will pan out in the Senate. During his weekly conference call with regional media, he did say that as Republicans in Congress work to address costly health insurance in the country by replacing the Affordable Care Act with the American Health Care Act, but he’s hoping lawmakers will also continue to identify ways to improve health care for Americans.

“Right now we’re having primarily the focus on health insurance and what the American Health Care Act is going to do to stabilize these Obamacare insurance market places,” Reed said. “But there are opportunities, I truly believe, that when we get to the issue of health care and improving health care in America and how we develop policies that reward quality and do it in the most cost-efficient manner, those conversations are something we can have at the same time when it comes to dealing with health insurance in the present manner.”

Reed also responded to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent criticism of the GOP health insurance plan, which would significantly cut Medicaid funding across the country, some of which is used to combat the ongoing Opioid epidemic.  Reed said that both the House and the Senate have included funding to address the opioid crisis in their respective healthcare bills, adding that the governor is using the crisis to cover up his unwillingness to make tough decisions in the state budget.

“I think what the governor is doing is he’s just so afraid to make the hard decisions in order to control the cost of Medicaid and make it sustainable in regards to not being placed on the backs of hard working Americans who are paying the bill through their tax bills in the state of New York and to try to work together, I hope, long-term, to make those hard decisions to get Medicaid in a more efficient, effective manner,” Reed said. “So from my perspective, what the governor is doing is he is just engaging in the practice we see out of typical politicians who don’t want to engage in the hard issues.”

Governor Cuomo says that the funding proposed by the Republicans in Congress to fight the opioid addiction is not even close to the amount that would be needed to properly address the crisis. He made his comments in an op-ed piece that appeared earlier this week in the New York Daily News.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo

ALBANY – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is continuing his criticism of Republican Lawmakers’ effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act with their own health care plan called the American Health Care Act.

The governor wrote an op-ed  piece that appeared in the New York Daily News on Tuesday, in which he blasted the Senate for proposing cuts to Medicaid at a time when the U.S. is dealing with the biggest drug epidemic in the nation’s history.

The governor said that while states like New York continue to fight against the opioid epidemic, the health care legislation being advanced in the Senate would strip Medicaid funding used for drug treatment services that save lives and keep families intact.

In New York, federal, state and local Medicaid funding makes up two-thirds of the state’s yearly budget for substance use programs — nearly $800 million of a total $1.2 billion. The governor said those funds allowed the state to treat 234,000 people for substance use in 2016 alone.

Gov. Cuomo said Cutting Medicaid would devastate New York’s ability to treat those who need help battling an opioid addiction, through treatment, crisis, detox and counseling services.

“The Senate legislation in its current form would phase out federal funds that are used to expand eligibility for Medicaid and slash billions of dollars from Medicaid, ” The governor said. The bill would eliminate $772 billion from Medicaid over 10 years nationwide.

“While the Republican health care bill includes $2 billion for opioid treatment, and may add as much as $45 billion over 10 years, this funding is nowhere near enough,” the Governor said. “Money for opioid treatment alone, without Medicaid expansion, can only address the tip of the iceberg of this epidemic. Many rely on Medicaid coverage in order to access treatment at all — so access to these programs would be dramatically reduced. In our state, this is unacceptable.”

Drugs are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, resulting in the first decline in American life expectancy since 1993. Deaths resulting from drug overdose increased 20 percent between 2014 and 2015 to more than 2,300 in one year in New York — more than twice the number of motor vehicle fatalities.

The U.S. Senate is expected to act on its version of the GOP health care bill next week. The House already approved its version earlier this year. If the Senate has enough votes to move its bill forward, the two legislative bodies will have to reconcile the differences in each version before final passage and moving it onto the president’s desk for his signature.

A conference call with Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) and regional media representatives. Held Tuesday morning, June 27, 2017.

Congressman Tom Reed discusses his effort to increase support for business incubators in the 23rd district, and also fields several questions from media representatives, including the ongoing effort by Congressional Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with the American Health Care Act.

NOTE: This conference call took place prior to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s announcement that the Senate will wait until after the July 4 recess to act on its health care legislation.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

Donald Trump

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to repeal and replace “Obamacare” is now in the hands of a key group of GOP senators who are opposing -or not yet supporting – legislation Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing to bring to a vote this week.

These lawmakers range from moderate to conservative Republicans, and include senators who were just re-elected and a couple facing tough re-election fights. Their concerns about the legislation vary along with their ideology, from those who say it’s overly punitive in ejecting people from the insurance rolls, to others who say it doesn’t go far enough in dismantling former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine tweeted after the Congressional Budget Office analysis on Monday that the Senate bill won’t fix the flaws in the current bill. She says she will vote no on the “motion to proceed.”

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin says he has “a hard time believing I’ll have enough information for me to support a motion to proceed this week.”

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky says it’s worse to “pass a bad bill than to pass no bill.”

CUOMO WEIGHS IN ON SENATE HEALTHCARE BILL

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (left) and Congressman Tom Reed (right)

Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t been shy about voicing his criticism of the Senate version of the health care bill. In a statement released Monday following an assessment report released by the Congressional Budget Office on the Senate Plan, the governor said the report shows that Republicans in the Senate are choosing to put millionaires over the middle class, cutting taxes for the rich at the expense of the health care of millions of Americans.

“This bill will leave 22 million more Americans without health care coverage, including 15 million more Americans by next year alone,” The governor noted. “Just like the House bill, this legislation is a death trap for New Yorkers. The Senate bill will jeopardize health care coverage for millions of New Yorkers, raise premiums on the poor and the elderly, and eliminate more than $7 billion for New York’s health care system, including life-saving funding for the fight against the opioid crisis. It also specifically targets New York, threatening to withhold federal tax credits for New Yorkers because of our support for women’s reproductive rights.”

He also said that the inclusion of the Faso-Collins amendment – which aims to eliminate the local contribution counties pay the state to help cover the cost of Medicaid – would force every resident to pay more through a new state tax.

“And by including the reckless Faso-Collins amendment, this bill will force every resident of this state to pay a ‘Faso-Collins Federal Tax’ added onto local property taxes to make up the $2.3 billion shortfall created by their proposal,” The governor noted.

Cuomo said he’s already called on the state’s Congressional delegation to do everything within their means to protect New York residents and not support the measures. However, Chautauqua County’s representative in Congress, Republican Tom Reed of Corning, released a statement critical of the governor, calling him a liar and a bully who’s done nothing for upstate New York.

“Governor Cuomo is a liar who has done nothing for upstate New York,” Reed said. “He’s a one trick pony for whom everything is an excuse to raise taxes. He needs to buck up like other governors and start reining in the cost of Medicaid and figure out more efficient ways of spending the taxpayers’ money. Instead, he acts like a bully and threatens a tax hike on middle class families.  I’d like to see Gov. Cuomo run for president owning the highest tax increase in America.”

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A conference call with Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) and regional media representatives. Held Tuesday afternoon, June 21, 2017.

During the conference call, Congressman Reed provided an update on Workforce Development legislation and responded to several questions regarding the Arlington, VA. shooting incident that severely injured  one of his congressional colleagues. The congressman also discussed the GOP American Health Care Act, which is currently still being drafted in the Senate in what has been criticized for being a closed-door process.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

A conference call with Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) and regional media representatives. Held Monday Morning, May 15, 2017.

Congressman Reed talks about his support for the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) component of the American Health Care Act. He also responds to questions regarding the firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Donald Trump.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) is continuing to defend his vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, and replacing it with the GOP-backed American Health Care Act (AHCA), or ‘Truumpcare’ as some critics have dubbed it.

During his weekly conference call with Media on Tuesday, Reed said he stands by the AHCA, saying the plan is better for the country, compared to ACA. He also responded to a question about the concerns that have been raised regarding AHCA, saying they stem from a lot of misinformation.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there about the bill and probably the biggest misinformation is the whole issue of preexisting condition reform being attacked by this legislation,” Reed said. “I can assure you, as a father of a type 1 diabetic and firmly in support of preexisting condition reform, the legislative text and the legislative interpretation that folks are trying to latch into in some theoretical situation where this risk is going to materialize is just false. It’s not going to materialize.”

Reed also said that many critics of the AHCA are against it for political reasons.

“I believe because it’s such a political issues, folks are going to engage in the politics and the rhetoric of healthcare and I understand that, I understand what their intentions are,” Reed said, adding, “But at the end of the day, I’m going to listen to the patients and I’m going to listen to the fact that the status quo can not be continued because it’s risking millions of Americans’ lives, so we have to deal with this healthcare situation in a proactive and positive step.”

The House’s amended version of the AHCA has yet to be scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), so there has yet to be an updated score on what kind of impact the amended legislation will actually have on the American people. WRFA asked Reed about the decision by House Republicans to move forward and hold a vote before the CBO released its findings.

“I did raise a voice and say we should wait until the complete score is done, but obviously the decision was made to go with the base score and I’m comfortable with that base score,” ,” Reed said. “I recognize the score when it comes to the 24 million folks that they estimate will lose coverage, but I also recognize the improvement in the premiums that bill shows. So overall that base score is something that I’m confident in, in regard to the CBO doing its job.”

And Reed said even if the House had waited for the updated CBO score on the revised legislation, there’s no guarantee how accurate it would have been.

“You look at where the CBO budget score was for the Affordable Care Act, where they said 22 million Americans would be gaining additional healthcare coverage under their score. But when we actually saw the numbers come out, it was actually 10 or 11 million. That tells me you have to have some common sense here. You have to get all the information that you can and then you have to make an informed decision when the legislation is before you,” Reed said.

The Senate still has to act on the AHCA legislation and it appears they will wait until the final CBO scores are released before moving on the legislation. The Senate will have the option of approving the same version the House approved – which would then move it on to the president for his signature. Or it could also amend the legislation, sending it back to the House for reconciliation before a final draft is agreed upon and both vote on it again before sending it to the president. There’s also the slim possibility the legislation will be defeated in the Senate, with 49 Democrats already against it, meaning only two Republicans would also have to vote against it in order for it to fail Senate approval.