NY Pols Greet Health-Care Vote with Celebration -- and Concern

New York, NY —

Senate Democrats are hailing the passage of the Senate's version of health-care reform legislation.

Sen. Charles Schumer calls the 60-39 vote a great accomplishment.

"It cuts cost, the fraud, the waste, the duplication and at the same time it covers 31 million people," he says.

New York's junior Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, issued a written statement praising the bill's passage. But she says the bill is imperfect because it lacks a public option, like the one contained in the House bill.

She says she will work closely with members of New York’s Congressional delegation to push for some measures contained in the House bill during the legislative conference process.

As the state's Congressional delegation celebrates the Senate's passage of health-care reform, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson continue to voice concerns. They say the bill as it's currently written will hurt the state by depriving it of hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funds. And the mayor says he spoke to Sen. Gillibrand about it. "I expressed very strongly my views and she tried to convince that the bill wasn't as bad for us as I fear it is, but regardless, what is important is not what was passed it's what comes out of the conference committee," Bloomberg says. The mayor says the bill also fails to address the rising cost of health care, tort reform, or the increasing need for drawing doctors from abroad. According to the governor, the bill needs to reimburse states based on poverty levels, not on per capita incomes, as it currently does.

In a statement, Gov. Paterson said the bill made important progress, but he says, "I am deeply troubled that the Senate version of the bill worsens what was already an inequitable situation for New York."

The governor says the bill will add $1 billion to the state's Medicaid costs and could result in a 15 percent reduction in payments to hospitals, nursing homes, and community clinics.