[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 35 (Thursday, March 14, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H2312-H2313]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 MEDICAID BUDGET CUTS THREATEN TO IMPAIR THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR MANY 
                               AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Towns] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, balancing the budget is important, but the 
debate has taken the wrong turn. We should be focusing on saving lives 
and the quality of care, not just balancing the budget, balancing the 
budget at the expense of losing people, and at the expense of creating 
turmoil in the lives of so many.
  For the past 30 years, Mr. Speaker, America has prided herself on 
protecting those vulnerable populations who, because of many 
circumstances, are not able to afford the health care they desperately 
need.
  Last week, Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Commerce which I serve on, 
held a hearing on the Medicaid proposal by the National Governors 
Association. During the recess, we had a hearing in which six Governors 
came to testify. Due to the fact that many Members could not be there, 
we required another day of hearings.
  The Governors' proposal is a bipartisan consensus which I must admit 
has done a lot to contribute to the debate and finding solutions to 
reforming the Medicaid program. I applaud them, Mr. Speaker, for trying 
to help. However, I am still concerned with several very, very 
important issues which, in my opinion, must be further reviewed.

  Under the NGA proposal, not only will the recipients of the Medicaid 
safety net program suffer, but so will the inner cities, which house 
many of our great teaching institutions that train the majority of our 
Nation's physicians. New York alone trains 15 percent of the Nation's 
physicians. Public hospitals which care for over 30 million uninsured 
will also suffer much more than ever imagined.
  If enacted, Mr. Speaker, the Medicaid cuts would deliver a blow to 
New York City that is double its proportionate share. Over the next 7 
years, cuts to New York hospitals will total approximately $12 billion, 
that is B as in boy, billion, in New York City, and billions more in 
New York State. Payments for long-term care and personal health 
services will decline by approximately $7 billion in New York City, and 
$1 billion in New York State.
  Furthermore, the Medicaid cuts will reduce needed service levels, and 
access to care will also suffer, as well as reduced projected 
employment by over 100,000 in New York City and 200,000 in New York 
State, and cause the personal income of New Yorkers to decline by at 
least 2.7 percent.
  While the debate over Medicaid reform has largely focused on cost 
savings, it is important to refocus the debate on saving lives and 
quality of care. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that we need to recognize 
the fact that people are living longer, and as they live longer, they 
will need additional care. In order for them to have that care, we need 
to make certain that the resources are there to provide that care.
  People in nursing homes today are doing a fantastic job. For a long 
time, we did not have standards like we have today. Of course, we had a 
mess. We had some nursing homes that were creating all kinds of 
problems for our elderly. However, we were able to get some statutes in 
the law that sort of turned that around. We now seem to be moving back 
toward where we were before those statutes came into being.

[[Page H2313]]

  I visited a nursing home just recently in my district, the Cobble 
Hill Nursing Home. I listened to the staff as they talked about the 
kinds of things they have to do now, and recognized that if we continue 
to cut the programs, that they will not have the staff to be able to 
perform those duties.
  I am hoping, Mr. Speaker, that we realize that as we talk about the 
budget cuts, that we do not forget that we are talking about quality of 
care, we are talking about the lives of human beings, and let us not 
let the debate make the wrong turn. Let us straighten it out and go in 
the right direction to protect the lives of our people.

                          ____________________