WASHINGTON — Responding to searing criticism from Gov. Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg that the Senate’s version of health-care reform would devastate New York’s medical services, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand insisted yesterday the legislation was good medicine.
“The Senate health-care bill is good for New York,” the Democratic senator’s spokesman said in a written statement after she dodged an interview with The Post.
Questioned as she was leaving a lunch with other senators in the Capitol, Gillibrand refused to answer questions about her support for the bill or what she was doing to make it better for New York in the wake of attacks from Paterson and Bloomberg.
Paterson fumed that, among other problems, the bill would cost New York over $1 billion a year in Medicaid funds. Bloomberg warned it could force “hundreds” of health facilities in the city to close.
Gillibrand’s only response to their complaints: “It’s something I’ve been lobbying on from the beginning.”
Asked to elaborate, she said: “We should set up an interview because it’s actually a much longer issue than I’d like to discuss in a one-minute walk.”
Gillibrand repeatedly promised to sit down for an interview yesterday.
But the senator’s office later said that would not be possible.
Instead, her spokesman issued a prepared statement hailing the bill, saying the legislation would, among other benefits to the city and state, provide coverage to uninsured New Yorkers and end “unscrupulous insurance practices.”
In an interview, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also defended the bill yesterday, saying that from his position on the Senate Finance Committee he was able to “prevent an assault on $30 billion” that goes to New York hospitals for training physicians.
“This is one of the most important and most vulnerable sources of funding to New York, and it supports tens of thousands of jobs,” he said.
Responding to Paterson and Bloomberg’s comments, Schumer said: “They are just trying to get as much money for New York as possible. I don’t blame them and I am on their side.”
But, he insisted, there are no cuts in the state’s Medicaid program. He also vowed to wrangle more money for the state as negotiations begin between the Senate and the House on the final health-care legislation.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) secured full federal funding for his state’s Medicaid expansion in exchange for a “yes” vote. Schumer claimed he and Gillibrand secured a sweetheart deal of their own that dwarfs Nelson’s.
“We got a special protection worth billions of dollars to stop Medicare cuts for 800,000 New York seniors,” Schumer said, referring to benefits for those in the Medicare Advantage program. “New York is one of just three states to receive such a protection.”
Schumer rejected the notion that he has kept a lower-than-usual profile during bill negotiations.
“I’ve been out front on this bill for some time,” he said. “But sometimes, you get more done behind the scenes.”
Meanwhile, Nelson signaled yesterday that his Medicaid jackpot isn’t working out quite as well as he hoped because so many senators are approaching him to get similar goodies.
Nelson said he’s now considering giving up his special deal.