Central New York congressmen emerge as key swing votes on final health care bill

From Syracuse.com: Washington — Central New York’s three congressmen, who voted for health care reform in November, are now undecided as President Barack Obama tries to push his top legislative priority across the finish line.

As a result of their concerns about a final bill, Democratic Reps. Dan Maffei, Michael Arcuri and Bill Owens are emerging as a key block of swing votes that could make or break the historic legislation.

“Their support is important because this thing is going to win or lose by one or two votes,” said Robert Crittenden, executive director of the Herndon Alliance, a nonpartisan group based in Seattle that supports health care reform.

The House passed its health care reform bill by a slim margin, 220 to 215, with the support of all three Central New York congressmen. The Senate passed a different version, back when it had a super-majority of 60 votes.

Now, in a legislative maneuver to avoid Republican opposition, Obama and Democratic leaders are pushing for a House vote as early as March 18 on the Senate-passed bill with a package of changes that would be signed by the president.

Maffei, Arcuri and Owens say they have problems with the Senate bill. They claim it treats New York state unfairly by taxing expensive health care plans provided by employers, and by potentially shifting an extra $1 billion a year in Medicaid burden on the state.

The three congressmen also have individual concerns with the Senate bill, such as the lack of a public option for a government-run health insurance plan, and higher excise taxes on medical equipment manufacturers.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House officials insist those issues will be addressed in a compromise as part of a final bill that will cost nearly $1 trillion over 10 years and be paid for by the new taxes and cost savings.

In the end, the bill would provide nearly all Americans with health insurance, and nobody could be denied coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions.

Jared Bernstein, chief economist to Vice President Joe Biden and executive director of the White House’s Middle Class Task Force, said the Central New York congressmen have to keep in mind the big picture when it comes to their vote.

“We have never been this close to the goal line in literally decades of debate over health care,” Bernstein said in an interview with The Post-Standard. “I’m not minimizing the importance of these issues to these representatives and their constituents. But I know they can be fixed. And we’re truly at a historic point.”

Bernstein said the White House is aware of New York’s local concerns over Medicaid and taxing top-tier health plans that some say will affect middle-class families.

“The president has considerably raised the level at which that excise tax kicks in, and moved it to 2018,” Bernstein said. “So there’s considerable time for that to be adjusted.”

Obama has proposed increasing the threshold for the excise tax on the most expensive health plans from $23,000 for a family plan to $27,500. Maffei said the tax could eventually affect middle-class families in New York, a high-cost state where health insurance premiums are more expensive.

“I understand the New York concern here, and I share it,” Bernstein said. “But I also understand the unsustainability of the current system. The status quo simply can’t hold. The current system incentivizes waste and excessive tests and procedures.”
Maffei, D-DeWitt, said he welcomes Obama’s involvement and was pleased the president met with House leaders this week to push his health plan. But that still has not changed Maffei’s undecided status.

“I will trust the president, but I will not trust the Senate,” Maffei said. “The Senate bill, in my view, burns the village in order to save it. I will say, however, the president’s direct involvement gives me hope they will come up with a compromise.”

Maffei said his two biggest concerns with the Senate bill are the excise tax on health premiums (the House alternative is an income surtax on individuals earning more than $500,000 per year, or families above $1 million per year) and the lack of a public option for health insurance.

“My district wants the public option,” Maffei said. “People have been very clear on that. Even people still opposed to other parts of the bill still support that, when it’s a true public option.”

Arcuri, D-Utica, said he has multiple concerns with the Senate bill.

“It’s not one thing in particular,” the second-term congressman said. “There is a real concern the changes we want in the Senate bill will not be passed. I think the president is trying real hard to find some middle ground.”

Like Maffei, Arcuri dislikes the Senate’s tax on high-cost health plans, the extra Medicaid burden on New York, and the Senate’s surtax on medical equipment manufacturers.

Owens, D-Plattsburgh, shares the concerns. But he is pushing for a compromise, noting that double-digit health insurance premium increases across the nation this year mean that Congress must pass some kind of health care reform.

“I think people need to understand that doing nothing is not risk-free,” Owens said. “I do not agree that doing nothing is sustainable.”

On that point, Bernstein, the White House economist, agrees. His message to the Central New York congressmen?

“You’re standing at the precipice of history here with an opportunity to reform a critical piece of this economy,” Bernstein said. “It’s an opportunity that has never presented itself to legislators like this. We’ve never been this close before. I envy the fact that these folks can make a decision to put this economy on a sustainable path and bequeath an incredibly important gift to America — affordable health care.”