KINGSTON, NY — Congressman John Faso, who represents Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware and all or parts of eight other counties, said on September 20 that he is skeptical that the latest version of the attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, will ever make it to the House for a vote.

He was asked his position on the measure called Graham-Cassidy in a conversation recorded for a podcast called Spotlight 19, the number of his congressional district. He said, “At this juncture I’m doubtful that it would make it to the House, I’m dubious that it would pass the Senate, and the last time I looked closely at Graham-Cassidy was about last March or April, and I was frankly skeptical of its impact on our state at that time. But we are on a district workweek now, so I’m waiting to get a briefing from the health staff in the House, so that I can better formulate on it. But, as I said, I’m pretty skeptical of the approach that they’re taking and I do think it would have an overly broad and dramatically negative impact, from what my recollection was.”

Asked about the element of the plan that would redistribute Medicaid funds away from New York and to others states, Faso said he would not support that. But, he added, “One of the underlying problems with the Medicaid expansion [as part of the ACA] is that the program is growing at a rate and at a level that is going to be unaffordable to our citizens and the federal government and taxpayers. So, it’s vitally important that we come up with reforms that can slow the growth of Medicaid spending, because it is rapidly outstripping our ability to pay. We are going—and I see this from my position on the budget committee—right now we’re about $20 trillion in debt; within 10 years that’s going to be $29 trillion, and the Medicaid expansion is one of the main drivers of the deficits. Now, it is not in and of itself the main driver; there are other factors, but it is one of those factors. So I do think we have to find ways that we can slow the growth of Medicaid spending. but I’m not convinced that the proposal that we’re seeing from the Senate is the way to go.”

Earlier in the year, Faso twice voted in favor of moving ahead with legislation that would have resulted in millions of people losing their health insurance policies.

On September 22, Hudson Valley residents rallied in front of Faso’s Kingston office urging him to “forcefully reject the latest attempt to repeal key provisions of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. The new repeal bill, which is being called Graham-Cassidy, would raise premiums and strip health care coverage from millions of New Yorkers, including thousands of families in the Hudson Valley region.”

According to Citizen Action of New York, “After 2020, when the plan’s cuts to Medicaid expansion, ACA subsidies, and the underlying Medicaid program would take effect, coverage losses would grow. New York State would lose $18 billion in health care funding.

“By 2027, the plan would cause 32 million or more people to lose coverage, just like earlier plans to repeal the ACA with no replacement. Once its block grant funding ends, the Graham-Cassidy proposal is virtually identical to those plans, except that it also cuts Medicaid for seniors, people with disabilities and families with children.

“The ACA’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions would be gutted, making their insurance unaffordable.”