“I thought I”™d be here discussing what was ahead for us with new health care legislation,” said Margaret Moree, director of federal affairs for the Business Council of New York. Instead, she told members of the New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce, both the Business Council and several other groups have time to study the proposals the Democrats and Republicans are offering for national health care.
Moree spoke at the chamber”™s monthly luncheon at SUNY New Paltz”™ Terrace Restaurant Feb. 17.
Saying now that Massachusetts”™ former Democratic seat has turned “red,” President Obama”™s plans to push a national health care plan through Congress has stalled, with both sides of the aisle coming up with their own versions. “Both are wanting,” declared Moree.
Using data compiled from the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, Moree said the cost of financing either party”™s health care bill would be costly and much of it unworkable in New York.
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Under the House bill, the net reduction to the deficit would be $109 billion, while the Senate”™s reflects a reduction of $81 billion, she said. Moree came prepared with both proposals and compared both in detail, but told chamber members several of the stipulations in both bills are already in place in New York and would create an “overlay” of services that are not needed.
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“New York already has Child Health Plus and Healthy New York coverage for families,” she said. “We are already ahead of many states when it comes to taking care of the uninsured. What will work for Oklahoma will not necessarily work in New York and the same is true in other states. Each has its own health care provisions in place for those who are not insured. New York already has 52 mandated health care provisions.”
Moree told listeners to be “cognizant that when any government wants to impose or increase a surcharge on a hospital service, it”™s another word for a tax. We estimate that 10 (cents) to 12 cents of every dollar of tax goes to subsidized pools of health care coverage.” Moree said after pouring over both the House”™s and Senate”™s proposals, she concluded neither bill had any real benefit to New York”™s 19 million residents.
Saying she suspects “Congress will be in a tough bind ”¦ but it”™s important to let our Congressional delegates know they are going to have to make this a benefit for New York.”
Health care is not free, declared Moree. “Someone is paying for it. Congress did not do a good job of thinking this one out. People will skirt ways to get around more costs and more tax burdens.” Moree decried the state”™s Medicaid program, saying it was a “train wreck from a financial point of view. All the incentives are upside-down. We all want health care, but more research needs to be done to make a solid policy decision.”
One thing Moree did was leave listeners with a fistful of information to pore over and decide for themselves if a national health care program is going to become a reality in 2010, a midterm national election year.
