Capps, Maldonado spar over health care reform

While Republican congressional candidate Abel Maldonado opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, incumbent Democratic Rep. Lois Capps praises the law and highlights how many people and businesses in her district have been helped by it.

The dueling approaches come as parts of the landmark health care reform — called “Obamacare” by detractors — go Monday before the Supreme Court, where attorneys for President Barack Obama will defend the act’s constitutionality.

Capps and Maldonado are fighting to represent the 24th District congressional seat. Also campaigning are Republican Chris Mitchum and Independent Matt Boutte.

Maldonado, California’s former lieutenant governor and former state senator for the Central Coast, has the greatest name recognition among those running to unseat Capps.

The health care act, which has been controversial since its inception on March 23, 2010, is expected to take a prime spot in the campaign.

At a news conference Friday in San Luis Obispo, Maldonado said the measure is too expensive. At a time when the nation is engaged in deficit spending, “we are broke,” he said.

Flanked by his 22-year-old daughter Erika, a Cal Poly graduate, Maldonado added, “We are mortgaging our children’s future. Washington is borrowing 40 cents for every dollar it spends.”

Maldonado said the Affordable Care Act should be scrapped and that Congress should create a new plan. He criticized the then-Democrat-led House that helped pass the act as too partisan, saying, “Congress needs to start over in a bipartisan way.”

If elected, Maldonado promised to seek health coverage that would reduce costs, increase competition and be available to all. He also pledged to do away with the independent panel that now hears disputes arising from the act’s provisions and makes recommendations for fixes.

Joining Maldonado was Rene Bravo, a local pediatrician and active Republican. He said opposition to the act is widespread among physicians because it grants the federal government a bigger role in how local doctors run their practices.

Bravo also criticized the act for not reforming a critical area — frivolous lawsuits brought against doctors by patients.

Capps’ support

In contrast to such criticism, Capps this week issued a skein of news releases in which she praised the act in general and delineated — with numbers and individual stories — specific ways it has helped her constituents.

Helping women and young adults: “As a result of the Affordable Care Act, 41,000 women (in her district) have already received preventive care services, including mammograms, without co-pays,” Capps said.

She added that, for the first time, health insurance plans will be required to cover essential preventive services for women, including FDA-approved contraceptives and screenings for gestational diabetes and domestic violence.

Capps’ numbers come from various government sources and include people in her district, which covers Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties. A further breakdown by county was not available, nor were numbers for that part of San Luis Obispo County represented by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield.

Capps also touted the act’s benefits to young people, specifically a provision that requires insurance companies to allow young people to remain on their parents’ plan until they reach age 26. Because of that, 9,500 young people on the Central Coast have coverage, Capps said.

Medicare: Seniors in her district on Medicare have saved an average of $610 per person on prescription drugs, Capps said, citing figures from the Department of Health and Human Services. Looking at it another way, about 6,200 seniors have saved a total of $3.8 million, she said.

Capps added that 59,000 seniors in the district received preventive care without a co-pay or additional out-of-pocket costs.

Small businesses: More than 500 small businesses in the district have received tax credits to help maintain coverage for their employees under the act, according to Capps.

She added that many small businesses don’t know about the tax credit. More than 13,000 small businesses in the district may qualify for significant tax credits under the law, she said.

Capps wrote that more than 95 percent of small businesses in California — those with 50 or fewer employees — are exempt from the requirement to provide their employees with health insurance. Of the firms that are required to provide insurance, more than 95 percent already do.

Managing Editor Tad Weber contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 23, 2012 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Capps, Maldonado spar over health care reform."