[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E731-E732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZING THE ANNIVERSARY OF MEDICAID AND MEDICARE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 27, 2023

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on July 30, 1965, President 
Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill into law that would guarantee all 
Americans access to quality medical care. Since that day, Medicaid and 
Medicare have evolved to better meet Americans' needs. These essential 
programs provide affordable healthcare to well over 100 million 
Americans, including our aging and most medically-vulnerable 
populations.
  Today, 18 percent of Illinoisians are enrolled in Medicare, and 
nearly 25 percent of Illinoisans are enrolled in Medicaid. Medicaid is 
especially significant for mothers' and children in Illinois and in my 
Congressional District. Medicaid finances 38.9 percent of all births 
and insures 36.9 percent of children in Illinois. In my District, 24 
percent of families and 30 percent of all children under 18 live below 
the poverty line. Thus, these programs serve an integral role in 
ensuring that my constituents receive medical care regardless of 
financial status.
  Although we have made great strides in bringing healthcare to our 
citizens young and old, disparities still remain. It is shameful that 
the most vulnerable often have the most difficult time obtaining 
excellent care, with recent studies indicating that individuals who are 
dually-eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare suffer from the highest 
rates of disparities in quality of care. In Chicago, residents in the 
Loop have a life expectancy of 85 years, on par with the longest living 
people in the world. However, in the Garfield Park neighborhood, just 7 
stops away on the CTA Blue Line, life expectancy plummets to under 69 
years. To put that figure into perspective, the average American life 
expectancy has not been below 69 years since 1950. It pains me to know 
that, in my own district, a mere 7-stops correlates to a 16-year 
difference in the length of one's life This statistic demonstrates that 
much work remains to ensure equal access to high-caliber health care.
  Further, I am proud that, during my time in Congress, I helped enact 
the Affordable Care Act as well as multiple improvements to Medicare 
and Medicaid, including the recently-enacted policies to help make 
prescription medications more affordable. Americans pay up to four 
times more for medications than patients in other countries, and more 
than one third of Americans cite unaffordability as the reason they do 
not fill their prescriptions. The Inflation Reduction Act already helps 
millions of Americans by capping out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per 
month and removes cost sharing on the most essential vaccines, 
including the shingles vaccine for seniors. When the $2,000 out-of-
pocket cost cap takes effect in 2025, nearly 600,000 Illinoisians will 
save an average of $432.71 per year on medications. By

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2030, the Inflation Reduction Act will allow the federal government to 
negotiate prices for 80 of the most crucial medications on the market. 
The true cost of the price gouging schemes by Big Pharma is American 
lives, and I am proud that my colleagues and I have successfully 
strengthened the ability of Medicaid and Medicare to provide affordable 
medication to Americans.
  Healthcare is a right. As we celebrate the 58th anniversary of 
Medicaid and Medicare, I recognize the critical rolls that these laws 
play in and reassert my dedication to ensuring the right of all 
Americans to affordable, quality healthcare.

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