[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 79 (Monday, May 12, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2848-S2849]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MEDICAID
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last week, hospital leaders from every
corner of my State of Illinois came to Washington. What was the reason
for the trip? The debate in Washington about the future of Medicaid.
Each and every one of them, from the city of Chicago through the most
rural areas in the State, was concerned about the plans by the
Republicans in Congress to change the funding for Medicaid. From the
South Side of Chicago to Macomb in West Central Illinois, as well as
Rockford, 20 miles from the Wisconsin border, and Carbondale, all the
way downstate, they came to see me.
These are small, critical access hospitals in rural areas, the safety
net hospitals treating the poorest patients and the large teaching
hospitals in downtown Chicago. They are all focused on Medicaid.
All of them told me the Medicaid cuts that Republicans have put on
the table would be devastating to their hospitals in every corner of my
State--devastating to the doctors and nurses that they employ and
especially hurtful to the patients and their families.
One told me that it is the only hospital in a 60-mile radius
delivering babies. If Republican plans to cut Medicaid go through, this
life-or-death care could be out of reach for pregnant mothers.
Another safety net hospital told me they might have to close their
doors altogether if the Medicaid cuts happen.
Why? Why would Republicans in Congress even want to jeopardize
healthcare and ring alarm bells in hospitals across America? They are
trying to ``save $880 billion.''
Well, what is the critical need to save that? To perpetuate the tax
breaks of the Trump administration for the wealthiest people in
America. Yep, that is the game plan. That is right.
President Trump and his billionaire buddy Elon Musk, the richest man
in the world, have asked Republicans in Congress to provide a massive
giveaway to the wealthiest Americans, and they want to use Medicaid
cuts as the piggy bank.
Let's be clear: This is not a healthcare reform plan to improve our
healthcare system or lower costs for families and patients. Nope.
Republicans are looking to dismantle the basic Medicaid Program to help
the tax cuts for billionaires.
Don't take my word for it. It is not just another political speech.
Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued a
bombshell report. I am sure the Republicans in charge of the House and
Senate didn't anticipate this. The Congressional Budget Office reviewed
the Republican plans to cut Medicaid and determined the only way
Republicans can ``save money'' is by removing millions of Americans
from this health insurance, slashing benefits, or cutting access to
doctors, nurses, and dentists.
For weeks, Republicans have been adamant that they are only focused
on addressing waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid. Then comes the CBO
report.
[[Page S2849]]
I want to agree with the basic premise that, if there is
inappropriate spending, fix it. But that is not what is happening here,
and I think the Republican majority knows it.
The Congressional Budget Office called their bluff and confirmed that
these Medicaid cuts proposed by the Republicans are not about waste or
efficiency. They are about restricting access to coverage to patients
all across the United States, including in my State of Illinois.
Under Republicans' watch, CBO stated that 13.7 million Americans will
have their health insurance coverage terminated. Almost 14 million
Americans will lose healthcare coverage if the Republicans go forward
with their plan. What is the acceptable number of constituents losing
health coverage for Republicans?
Nationwide, half of all rural hospitals are already in the red, and
more than 300 rural hospitals are facing immediate closure, including
26 in Kansas, 22 in Alabama, 21 in Texas, and 9 in Missouri. How many
rural hospitals closing in their States are Republicans willing to
accept to help perpetuate tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans?
Let me tell you, as a person from downstate Illinois, rural hospitals
are the backbone of the community. Not only are they critical places
for emergency medical care, but they are the anchors of the local
economy.
Speaking of the economy, one of the ways Republicans plan to cut
Medicaid is by imposing burdensome, redtape requirements.
Put paperwork in the path of an individual looking for medical care.
Pile it up. Make it hard. Pitched by the Republicans as just simply
``work requirements,'' this policy withholds healthcare for eligible
patients until they meet overly complex paperwork requirements. It is a
failing strategy.
In the States that have tried the so-called work requirements, there
has been no increase in employment. The only impact is with patients
who are ruled ineligible and kicked off Medicaid because they were
drowning in paperwork. What a way to run a country.
Here is an example: A waitress with diabetes misses a paperwork
deadline because the forms were sent to her old address. She loses her
Medicaid coverage and can't access her medications and is forced to
miss work to deal with it.
One analysis determined that approximately 3 million manufacturing,
agricultural, and service sector workers could become uninsured under
the simply ``Make sure they are going to work'' plan. Who thinks that
is a good idea?
Yesterday, House Republicans spent Mother's Day scheming on how to
advance these Medicaid cuts, finally releasing a copy of their
legislation so we could see the detail. It is as catastrophic as we
feared. It is the largest cut in Medicaid in the Nation's health
history, ripping health insurance away from millions of Americans in
every single State.
But it is not too late for a few Republicans--and it only takes a
few: four in the House, four in the Senate--to step up and say they
don't want to be part of this, if they will stand up and say: No, we
will not risk the healthcare for millions of Americans as bargaining
chips for billionaire tax breaks.
Medicaid provides health insurance for 1 out of every 4 people in my
State of Illinois--3.4 million people, including 1.5 million children.
Medicaid pays to deliver half of all the babies in my State--half of
them. Two-thirds of the seniors in nursing homes depend on Medicaid. If
Medicaid is not helping to pay for that nursing home or care for
seniors, what is going to happen to grandma, grandfathers, those that
are affected by it? It is the largest funder of opioid addiction
treatment.
Remember the image of Elon Musk--the richest man in the world--
laughing gleefully as he danced around a stage with a chain saw in his
hand? The richest man in the world was laughing out loud about his
chain saw cuts to Medicaid. Well, these cuts are no laughing matter for
that rural hospital worried about having to close its mental health
services. They are no laughing matter for the pregnant woman forced to
drive more than an hour to deliver a baby because the local hospital
shuttered its obstetrics unit.
Wipe that smile off your face, Mr. Musk. We are talking about life-
and-death healthcare for America's working families.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Britt). The Senator from Texas.
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