Medicaid Extenders Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for the recognition and yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 259, the Medicaid Extenders Act. Our long-term care system is broken. Like millions of Americans, I, too, am a primary caretaker for my husband, and I meet people every single day. I often say taking John to the doctor is like attending a town hall meeting. While we continue to work towards a much needed overhaul of our long-term care financing, we also need to build on and protect existing programs.

The Medicaid Extenders Act includes a 3-month extension of the highly successful Money Follows the Person program. This program provides grants to States to help individuals voluntarily transition from an institutional setting to a community care setting. Money Follows the Person is a win for both the beneficiaries and the taxpayers because the program has demonstrated significant savings over the years while bringing a real-time benefit to people's lives.

The Medicaid Extenders Act also extends spousal impoverishment protections for seniors in Medicaid. These important protections ensure that individuals are not forced to spend down all of their resources, and too many go bankrupt, just to get the care that they need.

However, this bill is just a partial victory. I do hope the House will pass it. Both programs are extended for only 3 months. While this is enough to keep these important programs alive for the moment, we must pass long-term extensions of both programs as quickly as possible.

I will soon be introducing bipartisan legislation to do just that, and I look forward to working with all of my colleagues this year on long-term extensions of these critical programs. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 259.

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