[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 23, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E698-E699]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PROTECTING THE MEDICAID SAFETY NET ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 22, 2008

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5613, 
the Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008. By passing this 
bipartisan bill, we can help ensure that our respective States can 
continue to provide needed health care to citizens who are eligible for 
Medicaid.
  I have heard from a number of health care providers, hospital 
administrators, public health officials, and constituents in my 
district in regards to seven Medicaid regulations issued by the 
Department of Health and Human Services. The message has been clear: 
these regulations have the potential to devastate the health care 
safety net in Colorado, pulling an extraordinary amount of funding away 
from the State's health care economy with the highest cost placed on 
the backs of the most vulnerable.
  Though I think that all seven regulations deserve a great deal more 
scrutiny and discussion, there are two regulations in particular that 
give me serious concern. The first, a regulation that would alter the 
definition of ``publicly-owned providers,'' would put 34 hospital 
providers in my State at risk of losing funding budgeted for serving 
low-income and indigent patients. The Colorado Department of Health 
Care Policy and Financing estimates that the State would lose $711 
million over 5 years--a loss that the Department says would put ``the 
financial stability of the entire safety-net provider community in 
Colorado at risk.''
  The second regulation with which I am concerned would completely 
eliminate Medicaid funding for the Graduate Medical Education program, 
pulling an estimated $60 million from Colorado's teaching hospitals 
over 5 years.

[[Page E699]]

Our teaching hospitals, which play a critical role in providing health 
care to underserved communities, cannot withstand this sort of hit to 
their budgets without severely curtailing important services.
  Broadly speaking, I think that these seven regulations ought to be 
much more carefully scrutinized. Where some were intended to change 
Medicaid policy without Congressional authorization, others responded 
to Congressional action by altering policy beyond what Congress 
intended. A 1-year moratorium will enable Congress to thoroughly 
examine these regulations to ensure that States like mine are not 
devastated by rules that, frankly speaking, appear to undermine the 
very purpose for which Medicaid was established. I am proud to support 
this bill, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure 
that our State Medicaid safety-nets remain strong and viable.

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