Comer talks health care, taxes at town hall

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY)

April 14--The hot button topics during the Thursday town hall in Hartford with 1st District U.S. Rep. James Comer were about health care and taxes.

Comer, whose U.S. House district covers Ohio, Muhlenberg and McLean counties in the region, visited Ohio County as part of an 11-county April tour of his 35-county district.

Comer updated the crowd of about 50 on the recently proposed national health care plan, its pros and cons, and its status.

"There are many things to be done to improve health care that have to be done," he said. "We have a crisis in health care right now in Kentucky."

One thing that Comer assured the crowd is that nothing is going to happen to Medicaid, but its expansion has caused problems.

The average state has about 10 to 12 percent of its citizens on Medicaid, he said.

As a result of the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, Kentucky has about 30 percent of its population on the program, he said.

"That's just not sustainable," he said.

He said the 1st Congressional District has about 75,000 people on Medicaid, and the federal government provided funding for those people during the first three years of the Affordable Care Act. Those three years are up, and if the commonwealth were to take over paying for the required 10 percent of costs, it "will bankrupt the state of Kentucky."

"Something has to be done to address the high-Medicaid population," he said.

Charlotte Whittaker, the Ohio County Senior Services coordinator, said that while the Medicaid system is flawed, it benefits Ohio County, which is home to many impoverished and disabled individuals.

Whittaker also told Comer about the community's needs of other federal assistance. She said about 630 people were helped with their heat and electric bills in Ohio County this winter, and AmeriCorps, the civic program funded by the federal government that has experienced some recent cuts, has a major and positive influence on the county.

"Those are all good programs that we need to keep here, so please remember these programs and know that we have needs here," she said.

Comer also discussed tax reform at the national level and how it will affect folks at the state level.

He said that the president would like to cut spending and increase revenue, and that part of those revenue initiatives will involve border adjustment taxes and tariffs.

He said he fears that if tariffs are placed on Mexico, Mexico will then put tariffs on the U.S.

"We have to be careful that we don't have unintended consequences," he said. "We need to weigh this out."

The congressman also discussed recent national security issues concerning Syria and North Korea.

He said that the president's recent decision to send missiles to Syria were twofold: to send a message and to destroy chemical weapons.

As for North Korea, he said that top security commanders are "watching them like a hawk" because it's a country that "does have the capability to do some damage."

Bobbie Hayse, [email protected], 270-691-7315, Twitter: @BobbieHayseMI

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