[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 27, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H2891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HEALTH CARE FOR MEDICAID RECIPIENTS

  (Mr. CASSIDY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. Speaker, it's always fun to listen to the debate 
because clearly both sides are saying the same thing but disagreeing to 
it. I am actually referencing some of the things we're speaking of.
  We are told that the health care bill is going to create jobs in 
addition to its primary goal of increasing access to quality care at an 
affordable price. Now, a component of this is Medicaid, insuring 21 
million people across the Nation, a combined Federal-State program 
where the State pays part, the Feds pay part. The problem is that 
Medicaid is not providing access to quality care at an affordable 
price.
  There were two articles from the New York Times recently. One speaks 
of how people with Medicaid cannot get in to see a physician. They have 
to go to the emergency room because physicians don't see Medicaid 
patients because it pays so little and it has so much hassle. The other 
is about how a woman with cancer in Michigan cannot find a physician--
she also has Medicaid--because the problem is it pays so little, has so 
much hassle, all the other things we expect in a bureaucracy. And 
lastly, regarding cost, despite paying less so it doesn't give access 
to quality care, according to articles in Politico, it's going to 
increase the deficit by $1 billion for States like California.

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