Reed answers healthcare questions

BARRINGTON--Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning) held three Town Hall meetings, Saturday, Dec. 10 in the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier region. The meetings included stops at Barrington, Horseheads and Beaver Dams.
At his Yates County stop, there were some 40 people in attendance filling the meeting space at the Barrington Town Hall. Healthcare questions and concerns filled a majority of the one hour meeting, but also covered were questions about gun stances, living in a digital age with fake news, the issues of climate change, mending a divided country and dealing with student debt.
The topic of healthcare was brought up in the first question to the congressman and discussions continued for over 30 minutes. President-elect Donald Trump has said during campaign events for months the fate of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will see a "repeal and replace" action. Reed is the vice chair for Trump's transition team.
"We are clearly going to have a repeal," said Reed regarding the Affordable Care Act. "So you are going to have a repeal. Does it happen immediately? Is it delayed in its effectiveness as the replacement is digested by the American people and gives them time to maneuver and to make decisions that are necessary to operate under the new healthcare reform going forward?"
Reed continued, "One of the things that we are heavily focused on in regards to the healthcare reform replacement package is how do we get to the cost, not necessarily insurance, but how do we get to the cost of healthcare. There are two approaches that I see. You have government control, government mandate (the Obamacare model) ... I'm of the other approach, which is using market pressure, individuals, doctors, to go down the path of trying to bring those costs in the right direction."
The congressman added that transparency, accountability and discussions about end-of-life treatment need to be considered going forward. He estimated that March 2017 would be the earliest that Obamacare would be repealed, perhaps with a delayed effective date. Reed was urged that a replacement needs to be fully considered before a repeal happens.
There are some aspects of the Affordable Care Act that Reed sees consensus on going forward and would be included in the replacement plan. These include covering preexisting conditions, having children remain on parents healthcare until 26 years of age and some form of the prevention of limits on most care. However, he said he is very hesitant of mandates.
The topic pivoted to questions about Medicare and concerns from some of those in the audience that voucherizing the program would have negative consequences. Reed said the current Medicare system will need changes if it is going to be sustainable in the future, an issue that received some push-back from his constituents.
Concerns that were voiced included how a modified Medicare program could provide adequate care for those who are very sick, and if a market system could ever provide the level of care that the government safety net does.
"So if we are talking about premium support ... that goes to get health insurance under control with market pressures, I am supportive," said Reed. "At the same time, it is not an A or B alternative, we have got to do A and we have to do B. I am supportive of reforms that are going to get the healthcare cost going down."
In the remaining time mostly non-healthcare questions were addressed. Reed answered questions including that nationwide handgun reciprocity (being able to move from state to state with only the initial approval from your home state) probably would not pass a Senate vote.
He also mentioned a "trust but verify" attitude when reading information particularly online. In his own experience, even when dealing with studies and information analysis, two different groups can come to very different conclusions using the same data. In many cases he usually finds "the truth is somewhere in the middle."
Reed also talked about environmental concerns the crowd brought up, including the importance of clean air and water, climate change and ways to move forward with environmental protection and resource development.
Student debt was the closing topic of the town hall meeting where several options were brought up for dealing with debt. Ideas included having a system where repayment could be based on the students salary after college. This could incentivize colleges to have students placed in jobs instead of focusing solely on graduation. Reed added he supports expanding the Perkins Loan Program and Pell grants available to students.