[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 190 (Thursday, November 30, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MORE COMPASSION FOR WORKING FAMILIES

  (Mr. DURBIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DURBIN. The Gingrich Republicans just do not understand the 
problems facing working families, but do not take my word for it. Take 
the word of the Consumers Union. I hope you are familiar with this 
organization. They publish Consumers Report. They are noncommercial, 
nonpolitical.
  Yesterday, they analyzed the Gingrich Republican budget and its 
impact on working families, particularly when it comes to Medicaid, the 
program that pays for over half the cost of nursing homes across 
America.
  Mr. Speaker, if you have a member of your family in a nursing home or 
if you anticipate that possibility, it is a troubling challenge to 
every family. It costs on average $38,000 a year to keep a person in a 
nursing home, and the Federal Government picks up the lion's share of 
that cost so that families will not be decimated and bankrupted by this 
experience. The Gingrich Republican budget, according to Consumers 
Union, will force 395,000 long-term care patients off these Medicaid 
payments for nursing homes.
  Now, what will happen to these working families? I wish they had the 
same sensitivity for working families as they have when they give tax 
breaks to the wealthy.

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