[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 12, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MEDICAID REFORM

  (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, after U.S. Governors earlier this year 
announced a plan to reform Medicaid, I looked forward to working in a 
bipartisan fashion to create a quality piece of legislation.
  However, there have never been any bipartisan negotiations on the 
current bill. The result is a new blueprint for block-granting that may 
be ideologically perfect, but is socially destructive.
  The proposed legislation removes the guarantee of health care for the 
elderly and disabled. It allows each State to define the scope, amount, 
and duration of any Medicaid payment.
  It will require impoverished seniors to pay high deductibles or 
copays that they cannot afford. It will force spouses and children 
around the country to contribute a disproportionate amount for nursing 
home care for their parents or grandparents.
  This bill would be devastating to rural health care, because it does 
not require benefits provided by each State's program to be provided 
equally to all parts of a State.
  Medicaid was created in the first place because States did not 
provide for those who needed care. Let us not turn back the clock and 
create 50 new federally funded experiments that use our grandparents 
and children as guinea pigs.

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