Chamber members hear from House rep.

Health care was the main topic of discussion last week when Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) visited the Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce.

McCarthy told chamber members that there is a lot of fear amongst people that they will lose their current health care under the government’s bill. She said this is simply not true. The good news for small business owners, McCarthy noted, is the that bill is expected to give them the chance to band together to provide health benefits to their employees at a reasonable price.

She also explained that the public option would actually include several plans for citizens to choose from, so they can pick the one that best suits them. McCarthy said the bill also would ensure that no one with a pre-existing condition would be denied coverage, nor will their be any cap on expenses. “You will get the health care that you need,” she said.

Another goal is to get more nurses into the health care system, said McCarthy, a nurse herself before being elected to Congress. McCarthy said she does believe that everyone, including the poorest of the poor, should pay something toward their health coverage. Even members of Congress make contributions to their coverage and their rates will go up 17 percent in January.

McCarthy said that if health care reform is passed before Christmas, parts of the bill could start being implemented shortly after the new year. “This is a revolutionary thing we’re trying to do,” she said. “I don’t know what it’s going to look like in the end.”

Health care reform has been put off for too long, McCarthy said, noting that it was a goal of President Richard Nixon. Too many leaders since then, she said, have not tackled the issue but the time has come where changes are necessary.

The congresswoman also touched on the financial crisis. She admitted that the government failed in its role as a watchdog of the financial industry, and there were many weaknesses in oversight laws. A lot of mistakes and a lot of greed led to the financial collapse, McCarthy explained.

But, she said, there are signs that times are getting better. Troubled Asset Relief Program money, or TARP funds, that were given to banks and other large corporations are already starting to be repaid — with interest — to the government. McCarthy said the $750 billion bailout plan was the right thing to do because the country was on the verge of a total economic meltdown. She said in the future there can no longer be any “too big to fail” companies.

McCarthy also noted that many of the local community banks have remained strong throughout this crisis because those institutions didn’t have many bad loans. “They’ve been giving out loans the old fashioned way,” she said. “They were looking at your finances.”

Congress will be targeting credit card companies, which have been raising interest rates. She said a consumer bill of rights for credit cards goes fully into effect in February to protect people from arbitrary rate increases, excess fees and more. McCarthy noted that high interest rates hurt small businesses.

On education, McCarthy said that New York has very high standards at its teaching colleges but there are other states producing sub-par educators. She wants expectations for teachers to be raised on a national level as part of the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. “Children are our most precious commodity,” she said.