Medicaid is A Lifeline

Floor Speech

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Mr. SUBRAMANYAM. Mr. Speaker, our kids, our seniors, and constituents deserve to live healthy, prosperous, and independent lives. That is why I spoke with hundreds of my constituents at a Medicaid townhall this past weekend, since most of them depend on Medicaid to live fulfilling lives with dignity.

The impacts of the $880 billion in cuts being proposed to Medicaid are not statistics. They are children, parents, educators, and grandparents. They are our neighbors and our friends.

I heard from a father whose son was almost institutionalized. He was getting ready to quit his job to take care of his son full time. Instead, his son got access to care through Medicaid, which allowed the father to continue running his nonprofit, which was helping adults with intellectual disabilities.

I listened to a grandparent of two intellectually disabled kids who has been their legal guardian for 15 years now. With the help of Medicaid, both children are living independently. Yet, with these cuts, they may face medication bills of $7,000 per month and be forced to move back in with their grandparents.

I heard from a nurse who shared that 40 percent of the births in her hospital are covered by Medicaid, including prenatal, maternal, and postpartum care. That is what supporting families and family values looks like.

A speech language pathologist at a title I school told me that most of her students are on Medicaid. They rely on it for free and reduced school lunches, and students with disabilities rely on it for their education.

Mr. Speaker, let's look at the facts. Medicaid supports 1.8 million Virginians, and hundreds of thousands of them would lose their Medicaid access because a 1 percent cut in the Federal Government's contribution to Virginia's Medicaid program will mean everyone from Medicaid expansion loses their Medicaid.

There are 3 in 10 children who are on Medicaid, 2 in 7 working-age adults with disabilities are on Medicaid, and 5 in 8 nursing home residents are on Medicaid.

Medicaid is also the fourth largest Federal funding source of our public schools. It provides mental health services. It ensures kids with disabilities get what they need. In 43 States, including Virginia, it also provides access to free and reduced-priced school meals.

There are over 37 million children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, in the United States. These are the most vulnerable people in the country who stand to lose the most from these deep funding cuts.

If my colleagues want to talk about fiscal responsibility, cuts to Medicaid will mean less preventative care, more costly emergency room visits, and much higher costs for treating preventable diseases and illnesses. That will increase premiums and costs for every single American, even those with private insurance, those who are not on Medicaid. Everyone will be affected by these cuts.

Yet, we hear that these cuts won't touch Medicaid, but that is not true. Just look at the math. It is the only way to make these cuts.

Medicaid is a lifeline. It is not a line item that can be blindly chopped to pay for a partisan wish list of bad ideas and tax cuts for the biggest corporations. In the richest country in the world, we should be working to cure diseases, explore new medical technologies, and expand Medicaid, not cutting off basic care.

Mr. Speaker, our kids, our seniors, and our communities deserve better.

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