Providing for Consideration of H.Res. Expressing Disapproval of the Trump Administration's Harmful Actions Towards Medicaid; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Protecting the Right to Organize Act of and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico Disaster Tax Relief Act, 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, as usual, Trump says one thing here and does another. He continues his assault on healthcare--no protection for preexisting conditions, nothing done to lower prescription price- gouging, and even considering potential cuts to what they call ``entitlements'' and we call Medicare.

Trump supports only junk insurance and junk ideas, like this crazy idea to block-grant Medicaid, which is a truly block-headed approach that will jeopardize insurance coverage for 1 in 5 Americans.

In Texas, Medicaid is a safety net with more holes than net through which many needy Texans regularly fall. Much of the available assistance is critical to our seniors. Already slashed to the bone, Texas Medicaid does not have any more room for the kind of cuts that Trump is urging. Hospitals are struggling to stay afloat in many parts of the State. Healthcare providers, some of them go out of business. And to the disgrace of the Lone Star State, we have almost 1 million children, more than in any other State in the Union, who lack any insurance access.

Indeed, it is the Affordable Care Act that actually slowed Medicaid spending, but Republicans will have none of that. This landmark legislation tried to patch the holes in the safety net, but even when Texas was offered 100 cents on the dollar from the Federal Government to extend Medicaid to some of its citizens, Texas refused to do that, and has continued to do so.

Now this Trump block-headed approach would widen the coverage gap for 5 million people with disabilities and millions of children who suffer when their parents cannot get care.

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Mr. DOGGETT. One of the advantages of the Medicaid program is if more people require coverage during an economic downturn, or if costs go up because of a public health emergency, like coronavirus or an opioid epidemic, the Federal funding automatically increases. If you have a stingy State Republican government that caps it, that coverage will go down instead of up. What is out of control in America today is not Medicaid spending, but this unhinged President's attempts to undermine healthcare access for as many Americans as he can do.

Madam Speaker, let's oppose it.

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