[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 4, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H1476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      BUSH BUDGET AND HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to discuss an issue important to 
my community, and that happens to be health care.
  I am concerned by the President's health care proposal for this 
year's budget. The President's Medicaid proposal will not help the 
poor, the sick, the elderly and the disabled, in my opinion. In fact, 
the President's proposal weakens the health care safety net for 
millions, millions of people.
  Currently, Medicaid is an entitlement as we know it, which means that 
States receive funding based on the number of people in their State who 
qualify for this coverage. The Bush proposal would encourage States to 
eliminate Medicaid funding for many people insured by the program in 
return for a small amount of so-called fiscal relief.
  This proposal requires States to choose between short-term fiscal 
help and damaging long-term financial constraints. It raises out-of-
pocket costs and reduces medically-necessary benefits to the poor, and 
it fails to address the increasing problem of the uninsured.
  We have all heard from our States and our Governors about the budget 
cuts that they are soon going to be implementing and the impact it will 
have on Medicaid.
  For example, in my own State of California, our Governor has proposed 
cutting optional programs like adult dental care, physical therapy, and 
diabetes management, a bill that I carried in the House when I was a 
member of the Senate.
  So one would think during these difficult times our priority would be 
on reinforcing Federal support for Medicaid programs. Instead, at this 
time when States are seeing rising rates of Medicaid enrollment for 
young children and families, this administration wants to change the 
rules of the game.
  We have unemployment rates in my district as high as 9 percent. Nine 
percent. That is astronomical. And you are seeing this administration 
taking a position to scale back the help to the working poor and low-
income families and disabled people who rely on Medicaid.
  Let me be clear: I support flexibility in Medicaid programs. But to 
me flexibility means that the States should have the opportunity to 
help more people in need, to design programs which fit the needs of 
their residents, and to come up with creative solutions covering most 
of the uninsured, if not all. Flexibility does not have to mean that we 
put everything in block grants and cut off services.
  As Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Health Task Force, I 
want to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about what the Bush 
Medicaid block grant proposal will do to the Latino community.
  Nationwide, 37 percent of non-elderly Latinos are uninsured, a rate 
that is double that of whites. Medicaid is a critical source of health 
care for Latinos. Forty percent of poor Latinos are covered by this 
program.
  If we scale back Medicaid coverage, we are going to be scaling back 
the health care for many young families, Latino families; and as we 
know, when we scale back access to health care in the guise of saving 
money, it ends up costing us more in the long run. When people do not 
have access to doctors in order to prevent disease, we end up paying 
much higher costs when people have to go to the emergency room, which 
is happening right now in my district.
  Uninsured children are 70 percent more likely than insured children 
not to receive medical coverage for common illnesses like ear 
infections. Thirty percent are less likely to receive medical attention 
when they are injured. It simply does not make sense to scale back 
Medicaid at a time when we have over 40 million people without health 
insurance in this country.
  In addition, the Medicaid proposal in the administration's budget 
either largely ignores or endangers the health priorities of the Latino 
community. The budget misses a critical opportunity to lift the ban on 
health care for legal immigrant children and pregnant women.
  The President's budget also reduces funding for environmental health 
programs at the CDC by $2 million. These programs help us combat and 
prevent diseases caused by toxic substances in our neighborhoods. This 
is very critical in my community, where we are faced with heavy air 
pollution and water contamination and we have many children facing high 
rates of asthma.
  Bush's budget does not prioritize the well-being only of the Latino 
community, but of millions and millions of people. In fact, the 
President's budget proposal represents a substantial setback for the 
Hispanic Americans and their aspirations for a future that includes 
greater economic opportunity, quality education for their children, and 
access to better health care.
  For example, the President's budget also fails to reform the 
unemployment insurance system for which many Latinos are ineligible due 
to the program's restrictive rules that prevent part-time and low-wage 
workers from qualifying for employment insurance. After all, they have 
earned it. They worked, but they are not eligible to receive this 
benefit.
  In terms of education, the President proposes budget cuts in programs 
that have proven to lead to academic gains for Hispanics. The 21st 
Century Community Learning Centers Program provides funding to 
community-based organizations and schools to sponsor after-school 
programs. He plans to cut this. In his budget this year, 570,000 
children will not receive this benefit.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to work with us so that we can 
ensure that all Americans have access to quality health care, 
education, and a clean environment.

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