Rep. Faso Supports American Health Care Act

WASHINGTON, May 13 -- Rep. John J. Faso, R-N.Y., issued the following speech, which was published in the Congressional Record on May 11, supporting the American Health Care Act:

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for the American Health Care Act. As I have said from the beginning, when it comes to the Affordable Care Act, we should keep what works and change what doesn't. I urge support for the AHCA because it does just that.

The AHCA stops the Washington, DC, one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare and puts choice and freedom back in the hands of states, counties, families, and individuals. With the AHCA's monumental strides in reforming Medicaid to ensure its solvency for our most vulnerable citizens and repealing burdensome taxes on the middle class, it is a win across the board for all Americans, but specifically Upstate New Yorkers.

Upstate New York residents will see additional benefits due to an amendment which Congressman Collins and I have included in the bill. This language is one of the greatest pieces of state mandate relief that New Yorkers have ever seen. By normalizing the fashion in which New York State funds Medicaid, those in my district alone will see more than $224 million in tax relief every year.

The fact is that New York funds its Medicaid program by imposing a portion of the state's funding responsibility on the counties. Home ownership is burdened by lower property values due to high taxes. This also lessens business competitiveness in areas like Upstate NY. The extent to which New York burdens its counties is unlike any other: of the approximately $9.5 billion in Medicaid costs shouldered by localities nationwide, New York localities account for more than $7 billion of the total. Albany mandates ensure that New York spends more on Medicaid than Texas and Florida combined. This is simply unsustainable.

The people of Upstate New York demand relief: relief from burdensome Albany mandates; relief from rising property taxes; relief from Washington-controlled, bureaucratic healthcare; relief from ACA- imposed, middle-class healthcare taxes. For these reasons, I support the AHCA and urge my colleagues to support this bill.