Tisei, Moulton at odds over Affordable Care Act waiver

LYNN – Congressional candidate Richard Tisei said the federal Affordable Care Act has caused “disruptions” in Massachusetts residents? lives, but Democrat Seth Moulton said the health care law can be improved on with incentives for hiring more primary care doctors.Tisei, a Republican, outlined his views on the federal law during a Lynn appearance, and Moulton offered his perspective in a Tuesday interview.Tisei said that with 98 percent of Massachusetts insured, state officials should seek a waiver from federal law. He said voters tell him their “common complaints” about health insurance focus on situations where Massachusetts health insurance law clashes with the Affordable Care Act.?It needs to be amended; it needs to be fixed,” Tisei said.Moulton said the Affordable Care Act “advances health care in America” by providing greater access to care; reducing costs and improving the end results of the care people receive. He said a Massachusetts waiver request from the law could be followed by requests from other states across the country.?As Democrats, we recognize we are in this together,” he said.Tisei said inconsistency between state and federal law can translate into health insurance cost increases.?Allowing states like Massachusetts flexibility makes sense,” he said.Moulton said the Affordable Care Act “is not perfect – it needs people to go to Washington to improve on it.” If elected, he will push for incentives to encourage new doctors to practice primary care medicine.Tisei on Tuesday received the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists? endorsement.An American Congress press release quoted the organization?s political action committee chairman James Breeden as saying, “Richard Tisei will fight to keep medical decisions between a woman and her doctor, not between a woman and an unelected bureaucrat in Washington.”Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Marc Brumer, in a statement, called a vote for Tisei “…a vote for (Republican House Speaker) John Boehner and the Republican agenda?” that would make it harder for women to get access to mammograms and cancer screenings.Congressional independent candidate Chris Stockwell on Tuesday said a bipartisan group should study the Affordable Care Act?s effectiveness in several years to study the law?s “return on investment.”?I feel it would be foolhardy to disband it before we can see its overall impact. If it?s not working, we ditch it,” Stockwell said.