Expressing Disapproval of the Trump Administration's Harmful Actions Towards Medicaid

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALLONE. Res. 826, Expressing Disapproval of the Trump Administration's Harmful Actions Towards Medicaid.

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 833, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 826) expressing disapproval of the Trump administration's harmful actions towards Medicaid and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the title of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of H. Res. 826 expressing disapproval of the Trump administration's harmful actions toward Medicaid.

Last Thursday, the Trump administration continued through its relentless campaign to sabotage the Affordable Care Act and its unprecedented attack on Medicaid. Despite promising as a candidate that he would not cut Medicaid, the Trump administration proposed just that last week. It has issued guidance that will allow States to block grant their Medicaid program. Just another day and another broken promise by this President.

Unfortunately, like a lot of his other broken promises, this proposal could have devastating consequences on the health of millions of Americans, including those affected by the opioid epidemic.

One in five Americans have access to healthcare through Medicaid. Block grants limit the amount of Federal dollars States receive, forcing them to cut benefits, cut payments to doctors, and tighten eligibility standards.

The administration's proposal is also illegal. Converting Medicaid to a block grant would require an act of Congress. Our Republican colleagues understand this, and that is why they included a Medicaid block grant provision in their failed attempt to repeal the ACA.

Congressional Republicans know that block granting Medicaid is a seismic change in the program that requires a change in the law. I would hope that they would be concerned by this illegal action and would join us in sending a bipartisan message of disapproval to the Trump administration.

I would also like to refute some claims that you are likely to hear during this debate, Mr. Speaker. First, this has nothing to do with increasing State flexibility. It is about cutting Medicaid. States already have significant flexibility to design a Medicaid program that works best for them.

You are also likely to hear that the Trump administration proposal only applies to the Medicaid expansion population. But, again, that is not true.

As the Kaiser Family Foundation makes clear, States could include many low-income parents and pregnant women who currently rely on Medicaid. Now, imagine if States would be allowed to cut pregnant women off of their health coverage in the midst of a maternal mortality crisis, which we now have.

At the end of this day, this illegal proposal will lead to lower quality of care for fewer people.
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Mr. PALLONE. Eshoo), who is the chair of our Health Subcommittee.

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Mr. PALLONE. Doyle), who chairs our Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I have a strange feeling of deja vu today because, once again, Democrats are down on the floor, speaking out against another attempt by the Trump administration to take away people's healthcare.

This should go without saying, but let me say clearly: Block grants do not strengthen the Medicaid program, and they do not protect Americans.

It makes sense that when the economy is bad, more people might need Medicaid, and when the economy is good, Medicaid payments shrink. This is common sense and good public policy. Medicaid should be there when people need it the most, yet the Trump administration wants to undo that. Instead, the amount of money that a State would receive would be flat, and States would have to adjust their coverages accordingly.

That means one of two things: either fewer people can be covered or fewer services can be covered. In fact, this policy encourages States to cut coverage and divert Medicaid money to other parts of their budgets.

We should be trying to improve people's healthcare and investing more so that American families don't have to.

Republicans have been trying to cut Medicaid for 30 years. This is just the latest attempt. They most recently failed to cut Medicaid coverage when they were in the majority and tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act because the American people were overwhelmingly opposed to their plan. Now the Trump administration is trying to go it alone.

But the American people will see through what you are doing, and they will see the Republicans in Congress, once again, turning a blind eye while this President and his administration try to take healthcare away from millions of Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution to condemn this outrageous and unwise proposal.

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Mr. PALLONE. Schakowsky), who chairs our Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee in Congress.

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Mr. PALLONE. Castor).

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Mr. PALLONE. Matsui).

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I don't have any more speakers other than myself at this time, so I am prepared to close.

I would urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this resolution. And in doing so, I would like to point to some of the whereas clauses of the actual resolution.

It points out that the President has waged an unrelenting war on Medicaid. It says that, under President Trump's watch, the number of uninsured children has increased, reversing years of decline, largely as a result of substantial losses in Medicaid coverage for children.

Over a million children have lost Medicaid and CHIP coverage, and over 750,000 adults have lost Medicaid coverage.

And I know that my colleague, the ranking member, who I respect, made reference to pregnant women and said that they would not be included under this block grant.

In contrast to that, I want to read something from--the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists was sent a letter, and they say, under Federal law, States must cover pregnant women earning up to 138 percent of the Federal poverty level in their Medicare programs.

Almost all States cover pregnant women beyond the Federal minimum. Any pregnant women covered beyond this minimum are, therefore, an optional population, and could be included in a State's block grant demonstration program. So, the fact of the matter is that pregnant women and postpartum women would be included in this.

Also, it says in the whereas clauses, not only the guidance that we are trying to reverse here today that allows States to cap their Medicaid funding through a block grant, but the President has also proposed regulations to roll back access standards put in place to ensure beneficiaries receive the care they need.

He also issued guidance to allow State Medicaid programs to restrict access to prescription drugs by adopting closed formularies. He proposed massive annual compounding cuts in Federal funding to the program, in direct contradiction to an explicit campaign promise.

Last year, the President's budget cut Medicaid by $1 trillion. We are going to get the President's budget next week. I would not be shocked if he didn't cut it again by $1 trillion.

We have been seeing this war by President Trump on Medicaid in every way, and that is why we are here today, to say this war against Medicaid has to stop.

If the GOP claim that they support Medicaid, which oftentimes they don't, then they should be voting for this resolution.

So I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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