Times Tribune - Debaters Disagree Over Health Law

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By Kyle Wind

As much as on any issue debated on Tuesday by candidates for the 10th Congressional District seat, the Affordable Care Act separated challengers Scott Brion and Nick Troiano from incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, R- 10, Lycoming Twp.

Obamacare was just one of the numerous issues the trio discussed in an hourlong debate at WVIA's studio, along with Ebola, hydraulic fracturing, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the future of Social Security, flood insurance, voting rights and the national debt.

From Mr. Marino's perspective, the 2010 healthcare overhaul has been a "disaster" that drove up rates for his constituents and "is destroying jobs in our country."

He proposed repealing the legislation and replacing it with a framework in which private companies can sell insurance across state lines to decrease rates through competition, offeri ng t ax deductions f or health costs and measures to scale back malpractice lawsuits.

"It's simple, it's common sense, it's affordable," the congressman said.

Mr. Brion, a Jackson Twp. Democrat, said his family's health insurance came from the Affordable Care Act framework, and the result has been a better plan with minimal cost increases.

Although he said Congress needs to do more to address the cost of health care, he highlighted what in his view is a major selling point of Obamacare.

"Today, in America, you get sick, you lose your job, you can get insurance," Mr. Brion said. "At this time last year, that wasn't the case -- not insurance you could afford."

Mr. Troiano, an independent candidate from Williamsport, said he initially opposed the health care law but now that it is on the books, his preferred approach was to change problematic areas of the law and keep the rest.

"I think we need to acknowledge where it is working in terms of extending insurance to people who didn't have access, and overhauling where we know it 's failing," Mr. Troiano said. "It's costing our country too much. It is creating uncertainty for our businesses who want to hire more people. It's costing families who have plans that they like higher out-ofpocket costs."

The focus should be on rewarding quality of care rather than quantity of services, replacing t he mandate for employers to provide insurance with "market-based incentives" and scaling back federal subsidies, Mr. Troiano said.

Mr. Marino criticized Mr. Troiano -- a former Republican who has told The Times-Tribune he switched to unaffiliated in the aftermath of congressional Republicans shutting down the federal government last October -- for voting for President Barack Obama.

Mr. Troiano responded he supported Mr. Obama for his first t er m because he thought the president "was in the best position to transcend partisan politics and solve problems," but he was wrong -- and he did not vote for the president in his reelection bid.

As he did many times throughout the night, Mr. Troiano took his own shot at Mr. Marino.

"What's in the best interest of our district is not voting over 50 t i mes to repeal the law," said Mr. Troiano. "That won't help the 70,000 people without health insurance in our district."

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