[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 99 (Thursday, June 11, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2744-S2745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                MEDICAID

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if you or a loved one is diagnosed with a 
life-altering medical condition, the last thing you want to face is a 
mountain of government paperwork in order to get your care.
  But when Republicans in Congress passed their One Big Beautiful Bill, 
President Trump's budget--that is what they call it--last year, they 
placed themselves in the middle of whether or not you get treatment.
  In that law, the Republicans created a requirement for all Medicaid 
recipients between the ages of 18 and 64 to either work 80 hours a 
month or verify they are too sick to do so in order to maintain 
Medicaid coverage.
  At first glance, that might just sound like a reasonable requirement. 
The reality is, the plan drowns eligible patients in paperwork, 
requiring those who are poor and sick to navigate a maze of government 
redtape to see a doctor.
  To qualify for Medicaid, you need to have low or no income or perhaps 
have a disability. Now the Republicans want to put a paperwork 
requirement on this to prove that you can't work 80 hours a month.
  Last week, the Trump administration took a look at this and decided 
to make a bad situation even worse. They announced the rules to 
implement these work requirements. The administration decided that 
documenting that you have a serious condition like cancer or 
Alzheimer's is not enough to avoid work requirements. Instead, they are 
further requiring patients to verify that these conditions actually 
impede your ability to work.
  In case it is not obvious, a 64-year-old cancer patient, traveling 30 
miles each direction every week to undergo chemotherapy, might not have 
the ability to show up to their shift, waiting tables. Under 
Republicans' work requirements, one misstep by a patient, provider, or 
State employee could mean the difference between having health coverage 
or not. Is this a burden?
  What if we suggested that you file your income tax returns not only 
on April 15 but on October 15 as well--twice a year--to make sure we 
catch up with you? Is that a burden? Of course, it is.
  Have Republicans in Congress really deemed you unworthy of getting 
cancer treatment because a signature was missing on one of the dozens 
of pages in the forms you had to submit to prove that you are unable to 
work?
  In addition to creating this work requirement, Republicans in 
Congress also refused to extend the Affordable Care Act's enhanced 
premium tax credits in their Big Beautiful Bill--tax breaks for wealthy 
people but no benefits for those trying to pay their health insurance 
premiums.
  Twenty-four million Americans rely on these tax credits to afford 
their health insurance, but they expired at the end of last year. 
Without them, insurance premiums have doubled or tripled for many 
families, the same families that are struggling to buy groceries, to 
pay their utility bills, to make sure that they have enough money for 
rent or mortgage. And how about the cost of gasoline while we are at 
it? We have decided these folks need to have an additional expense of 
health insurance premiums, according to my Republican colleagues.
  Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune newspaper reported that more than 
92,000 people living in my State have lost or dropped their health 
insurance this year due to the skyrocketing premiums and the Republican 
policy change eliminating tax benefits to help people pay for their 
health insurance.
  Illinois is no outlier. Millions of Americans nationwide lost their 
insurance coverage because the Republican decision to change the policy 
priced them out of care. Listen to one of the stories.
  Sharon Dunham, from Grand Rapids, MI, told the Wall Street Journal 
that she beat cancer twice and has multiple health challenges, but she 
had to drop her insurance altogether--drop her insurance altogether--
this year when her monthly premiums increased by $300.
  With inflation, which the President embraced yesterday and said that 
he

[[Page S2745]]

dearly loves--add that to the health insurance premiums, she just 
couldn't hack it.
  Sharon plans to go without insurance until she turns 65. She prays 
that she will last long enough to reach the Medicare eligibility age. 
In the meantime, she is terrified that her cancer might return and 
knows that without health insurance, ``I can't do anything if it shows 
up.''
  Think about that for a minute. A vote here on the Senate floor has 
put this lady in a situation where she is battling cancer without 
health insurance.
  Countless other families are making similar heartbreaking decisions 
like Sharon. Without health insurance, they are just one accident or 
illness away from bankruptcy.
  Republicans' Big Beautiful Bill doesn't stop just at that point. It 
also enacted the most severe cut to the SNAP program in history. From 
July 2025 to February 2026, more than 3\1/2\ million people have lost 
access to the program that actually puts groceries on their table.
  One SNAP recipient, Presley Nassise, told the Public Broadcasting 
System that his benefits went from $200 to zero after the Republican 
cuts, after which he could only afford 1\1/2\ meals a day.
  Go to your local food bank and ask them what is going on. They are 
being deluged and swamped by people who are struggling to make ends 
meet, struggling to pay for groceries.
  And folks with limited income need a helping hand. I have been there. 
I have seen those food banks. And thank goodness for the people who 
open them, the churches and the volunteers that keep them open.
  It is no wonder that more Americans are going without the food that 
they need now in 2026 than during the peak of COVID-19.
  As the Big Beautiful Bill's provisions take effect, Republicans can 
no longer hide behind the statement that they have only tried to target 
waste, fraud, and abuse.
  Americans are waking up to the reality that Republicans abandoned 
working families so they could provide tax breaks for the wealthiest 
people in this country.
  While Republicans are content to act like nothing is wrong, Democrats 
are continuing to fight to restore these programs.
  It may not be popular in some circles to speak out for the poor and 
low-income people in this country, but I think we have an obligation to 
do so. If these people are trying to get by--struggling to get health 
insurance, to put food on their table, to be able to go to the kind of 
healthcare that keeps them alive--we have got to speak up for them.
  I don't believe these are cheaters and chiselers and frauds. These 
are people who are trying to get by. And putting additional paperwork 
requirements on them--making it more and more difficult--making someone 
who has Alzheimer's file papers regularly with the government to prove 
they can't go to work, for goodness' sake, what has this Nation come 
to? We can do better than that.
  I yield the floor.
  

                          ____________________