[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 128 (Monday, July 30, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5445-S5446]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Medicaid

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to talk about an 
important anniversary. Today marks 53 years since the Medicare and 
Medicaid Programs have been created. I will speak specifically today 
about Medicaid. Many Americans are familiar with all of the benefits 
that Medicaid provides to so many Americans, but I don't know if people 
have a sense of the scope of it.
  First of all, Medicaid helps 70 million individuals and families in 
every stage of life. Medicaid covers nearly half of every birth in the 
United States of America. Medicaid covers 40 percent of all children 
across the country. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it is also 
true that roughly 40 percent of all of the children have their 
healthcare covered through Medicaid. Roughly 50 percent of the people 
with disabilities in our State are covered by Medicaid, and about 60 
percent of those who need skilled care, so-called nursing home care--
about 2 million Pennsylvanians--are covered by Medicaid.
  Medicaid is currently considered the ``gold standard'' for children's 
healthcare, which includes the early and periodic screening, diagnosis, 
and treatment benefits, known as EPSDT. It doesn't get a lot of 
attention, but a lot of the professionals who understand pediatrics and 
children's healthcare will stress the importance of early and periodic 
screening, diagnosis, and treatment.
  Medicaid helps to prevent moms and dads from being forced into 
deciding whether to put food on their tables or take a child to see a 
doctor. Through Medicaid, 15 million people with disabilities receive 
assistance with their healthcare or with durable medical equipment, 
such as wheelchairs or assistive speaking devices, long-term supports 
for daily living, such as personal care attendants, and so many other 
benefits.
  If you just focus on the category of Americans with disabilities who 
are children, 60 percent of children in America with disabilities are 
covered by Medicaid. Medicaid helps Americans afford their Medicare 
premiums. That is the interplay between both the Medicaid Program and 
the Medicare Program. Medicaid pays for nursing home care for older 
relatives who otherwise would incur $75,000 per year of expenses, which 
would force countless middle-class families out of their homes and 
deprive them of their hard-earned savings.
  How about our schools? Forty-eight percent of school districts use 
Medicaid funds to provide medical and therapy services in schools for 
children who receive special education.
  Medicaid also funds transportation for eligible individuals to 
receive medical services.
  Finally, on this long list, Medicaid is the primary payer for the 
treatment and services of opioid addiction, as well as for substance 
use disorder services.
  All of those issues are critically important to the American people 
and especially, of course, to the American family. That is why last 
year--and continuing into 2018--the efforts that have been made to 
repeal the Affordable Care Act have had an adverse impact on Medicaid 
by, in one sense, decimating the program and badly injuring our ability 
to deliver all of those healthcare benefits to children, to people with 
disabilities, to seniors. In virtually every bill that has been 
considered in the Senate or the House, the effect on the opioid crisis 
has been devastating because of what has happened to the expansion of 
Medicaid as opposed to the original Medicaid Program itself.
  I hope our Republican friends will consider all of those benefits and 
the impact on Medicaid when they are proposing repeal legislation and 
similar legislative proposals.
  I will make a point about one family, which I think, in so many ways, 
is emblematic of a lot of other families when it comes to Medicaid. In 
Pennsylvania, I received a letter from a mom in Southeastern 
Pennsylvania. Her name

[[Page S5446]]

is Pam Simpson. She was writing to me about her son, Rowan. The impact 
on Rowan Simpson's life, like a lot of children's lives, is 
incomparable. It is hard to comprehend how beneficial it has been.

  As I said, his mom Pam sent me a note. Here is what she said, in 
pertinent part. I will not read all of it, just an excerpt. She said:

       In late January 2016, I applied for Medicaid assistance.

  Medical Assistance, I should say. That is the Medicaid Program in 
Pennsylvania, Medical Assistance.

       After Rowan was awarded this assistance, we were able to 
     obtain wrap-around services, which included a Behavioral 
     Health Consultant (BSC) and a Therapeutic Staff Support 
     worker (TSS). . . . The wrap-around services have been a 
     Godsend.

  Toward the end of the letter, Pam Simpson said:

       Without Medicaid, I am confident that I could not work full 
     time to support our family. We would be bankrupt, or my son--

  Meaning Rowan--

     would go without the therapies he sincerely needs.

  Pam Simpson concludes the letter this way:

       Please think of my dear Rowan and his happy face, his big 
     blue eyes, and his lovely strawberry blonde hair. Please 
     think of me and my husband working every day to support our 
     family. Please think of my 9-month-old daughter, Luna, who 
     smiles and laughs at her brother daily; she will have to care 
     for Rowan later in her life after we are gone. Overall, we 
     are desperately in need of Rowan's Medicaid Assistance and 
     would be devastated if we lost these benefits.

  That is one mom talking about her son in Pennsylvania, but of course 
they are representative of so many families across the country.
  All of us here know--it is pretty evident from the data on where we 
are positioned in the world--that we are the strongest country in the 
world--meaning the strongest economy--and that we are also the 
strongest military power in the world. There is no question about that. 
But that same country, that same strong country, over time has figured 
out a way to take care of the American family, especially through a 
program like Medicaid.
  Hubert Humphrey said it well years ago. He may have even said this on 
the Senate floor when he was representing Minnesota. Hubert Humphrey 
said: ``The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in 
the dawn of life . . . those who are in the twilight of life . . . and 
those who are in the shadows of life.'' In a sense, he is talking about 
children in the dawn of life, those with disabilities and others who 
might be in the shadows of life, and those who are senior citizens in 
the twilight of life.
  No program touches more Americans than the Medicaid Program, and we 
must continue to work to fight to keep Medicaid strong not just for the 
next 50 years or 53 years--today is the anniversary--but for many years 
after that.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
  Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, one of the great honors and privileges of 
being a Senator is that we get to confirm Presidential nominations to 
our country's highest courts.
  President Trump has nominated an outstanding judge to fill an opening 
on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. That judge is 
Georgia Supreme Court Justice Britt Grant. Tonight, the Senate will 
vote to invoke cloture on her nomination so we can confirm her later 
this week. This is a crucial vote.
  Justice Grant has served with distinction on the Supreme Court of 
Georgia since January 2017. In that role, she has written over 40 
opinions on both criminal and civil matters and participated in 
hundreds of other opinions. Her positions are not a mystery. She has a 
long record of defending and upholding our Constitution.
  She served as Solicitor General for the State of Georgia from 2015 
until her appointment to the State Supreme Court. This year, she was 
elected to her seat on the State Supreme Court without opposition. When 
that happens in my State, that means people on both sides of the aisle 
understand how she is applying the rule of law. It is a testament to 
the quality of her work and the dedication she has to the Constitution 
and to the people for whom she works.
  Prior to her public service, Justice Grant argued a commercial 
litigation case before the highest Court in the land, the U.S. Supreme 
Court. And by the way, she won.
  Justice Grant attended Stanford Law School. After graduating, she 
actually clerked for Judge Brett Kavanaugh--another outstanding nominee 
who will hopefully be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court later this 
year. I might add that Judge Kavanaugh sat through Justice Grant's 
confirmation hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee just a few 
months ago. He was there for the entire hearing because she did such a 
good job clerking for him earlier in her career.
  Clearly, Justice Grant is immensely qualified to fill this Court of 
Appeals vacancy, and there is no doubt in my mind that she will do a 
fantastic job. In fact, our country needs more judges like Justice 
Grant.
  I couldn't be prouder of her, her husband Justin, and their three 
kids, Charles, Mary Elise, and Jack.
  Earlier this year, I was honored to introduce Justice Grant in her 
confirmation hearing and to commend her nomination with my highest 
recommendation. Tonight, I strongly urge my colleagues to support her 
final confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 
Circuit.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be granted 
enough time to complete my remarks before the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I come briefly but quickly and proudly to 
recommend Britt Grant to this body and to the United States of America 
to be the next judge from the State of Georgia to be on the circuit 
court of appeals.
  Britt Grant is an outstanding jurist. She became a judge on the 
Georgia Supreme Court at the age of 40. She went to Stanford University 
Law School, and she went to Wake Forest University as an undergraduate. 
After she left Stanford University, she came to clerk for Brett 
Kavanaugh, who is now nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court.
  Throughout her legal career, whether it was practicing as an 
attorney, whether it was serving as a judge, or whatever she did, she 
was always at the top of her class, at the top of her case, or at the 
top of her ability. I don't remember ever having a judge come before 
this body, since I have been in Congress, from my home State of Georgia 
who had more people pulling for her, more people wanting her to win, 
more people who think she is the right person at the right time for the 
United States of America.
  So I come to the floor as the senior Senator from Georgia to tell my 
colleagues this: You have the chance to invoke cloture tonight with 
your vote and to vote tomorrow for the confirmation of the Honorable 
Britt Grant of the Georgia Supreme Court to be on the U.S. Circuit 
Court for the Eleventh Circuit of the United States of America.
  I urge my colleagues to vote yes for cloture and yes for Judge Grant 
tomorrow.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.