[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 14, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S185-S186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE; ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT; AND INTERIOR 
           AND ENVIRONMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2026--Resumed

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of H.R. 6938, which the clerk will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 6938) making consolidated appropriations for 
     the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other 
     purposes.

  Pending:

       Thune amendment No. 4208, to change the enactment date.
       Thune amendment No. 4209 (to amendment No. 4208), of a 
     perfecting nature.
       Thune motion to commit the bill to the Committee on 
     Appropriations, with instructions, amendment No. 4210, to 
     change the enactment date.
       Thune amendment No. 4211 (to the instructions (amendment 
     No. 4210)), of a perfecting nature.
       Thune amendment No. 4212 (to amendment No. 4211), of a 
     perfecting nature.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The good Senator from Iowa.


                                Medicaid

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, Medicaid is intended to provide 
healthcare for the most vulnerable, including the disabled, the 
elderly, and low-income women and children.
  Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector 
general published an audit that found millions of dollars were paid out 
from State Medicaid Programs to managed care organizations for deceased 
enrollees.
  State Medicaid Programs hire insurance companies in the form of a 
managed care organization to manage the claims and care of patients. 
States pay the insurance company a per-member, per-month fee. However, 
it is the responsibility of each of the 50 States to have an accurate 
enrollment list, which you can probably figure out. Otherwise, it will 
give the insurance company money for a patient who is no longer 
eligible for Medicaid or, in some cases, no longer alive.
  The Health and Human Services' inspector general found that, since 
2016, Medicaid agencies improperly paid $289 million for deceased 
enrollees. In the inspector general's audit, the audit sampled 100 
payments. Of those payments, 49 percent were improperly paid or the 
dollars were only clawed back after the inspector general raised 
concerns to the respective State.
  The report found that Medicaid agencies continued to pay for deceased 
enrollees because they didn't have access to death data, failed to 
check or use the data, or didn't check the data often enough.
  The Working Families Tax Cuts law, signed by President Trump on July 
4, puts an end to this fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicaid Program. 
It establishes solutions to stop sending payments out for deceased 
enrollees and providers.
  I look forward to ensuring that HHS implements this part of the law 
quickly and effectively so that we don't read more inspector general 
reports about this issue.


                     Working Families Tax Cuts Act

  Mr. President, I will just mention the Working Families Tax Cuts law 
that the President signed on July 4. I think there is a lot of 
misunderstanding about that law. So I want to say something in addition 
to Medicaid's wasting of money.
  The Working Families Tax Cuts Act prevented a $4.7 trillion tax 
increase that would have automatically happened on December 31, when we 
would have gone back to the old tax laws prior to the 2017 tax bill.
  For Iowans, I have seen two different figures. One study showed that 
that would have meant a $2,300 increase for families in Iowa if we had 
not stopped that tax increase. Another study

[[Page S186]]

showed that it saved Iowans $3,100. Either way, $2,000 or $3,000 is 
money that Iowans could not afford to pay in additional taxes.
  But this bill does not include just taxes. It is a very comprehensive 
piece of legislation that increases support for family farmers. It has 
energy policy that has brought down gas prices tremendously since 
President Trump signed the bill. It has improvement in education 
programs. It has health issues in it. And it has law enforcement issues 
in it.
  I am not sure I have named all of the parts of the bill, but I hope 
people who are filling out their tax forms in 2026, and who don't have 
to pay additional taxes, will understand that that tax bill has done a 
lot for many segments of the economy that the President ought to be 
complimented for. Those of us in the Senate who voted for it could, 
likewise, let them know that we were worried about the tax increase.
  I yield the floor.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader is recognized.

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