[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19672]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    ENSURING THAT MEDICAID IS AVAILABLE TO HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIMS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, Hurricane Katrina put a human face on 
hardship. It reminded us that there are Americans who work hard and pay 
their taxes and play by the rules, yet are still hanging on by a 
thread. It reminded us how easily that thread can break. In the 
clearest terms possible, it communicated the value, both tangible and 
intangible, of government assistance.
  Many people who suffered from Katrina have relied on Medicaid, a 
government health care program for poor families, for families who are 
working but do not make enough or have health insurance. Yet as we 
return to Washington this week after surveying the damage from this 
terrible storm, Republican leaders are pursuing $10 billion, $10 
billion, in cuts to that Medicaid program, in large part because they 
are insisting on more tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent of the 
people of our country.
  As we saw the poorest in New Orleans left behind while those who were 
more affluent were able to escape, this Congress, frankly, is mimicking 
that same process, that same scenario, where we are giving tax cuts to 
the wealthiest citizens, while the poorest and the middle class and 
those who are working hard and playing by the rules and paying their 
taxes but who cannot afford health care, we are leaving them behind.
  Our Nation's leaders must stop blaming the poor for having the same 
health care needs we all do. Helping the poor secure health care is not 
a frivolous extravagance; it is an expression of our values as a 
Nation. Health care is expensive. No one has figured out, especially in 
this institution, with the power of the drug companies and the 
influence of the insurance industry, no one here has been willing to 
find a solution to contain medical costs without stifling medical 
progress.
  Our Nation's leaders must stop pretending that taking health care 
away from the poor solves that dilemma. They must stop pretending that 
the poor take advantage of Medicaid, as if enrollees look for excuses 
to take off work and see the doctor. The Nation's leaders must stop 
pretending that taking health care away from the poor will not hurt 
them. It is a convenient theory. It is also patently false.
  Hurricane Katrina forced this Nation, if only for a few days, to see 
through the eyes of Americans living in poverty. It was a grim reminder 
that Americans from all walks of life can be financially independent 
one day and in desperate need the next. A natural disaster, a 
catastrophic illness, a stock market crash, an aging parent, a sick 
child, that is all it takes.
  Katrina reminded us that when Americans witness human suffering, they 
do everything in their power as a great Nation, as the people, not the 
government, they do everything in their power to alleviate that 
suffering.
  Medicaid is the Nation's insurer of last resort. It simply is a 
financing mechanism that, with modest adjustments and sufficient 
resources, can accommodate the health care needs of the hurricane 
victims without delay, without red tape. Medicaid serves people who 
have virtually no resources of their own. In Louisiana, Mississippi and 
Alabama, we have seen what that kind of poverty looks like.
  Some policymakers have proposed saving money by increasing the cost-
sharing burden on Medicare enrollees, people who already ration every 
dollar to get through their daily lives, to cover their basic 
necessities.
  Medicaid enrollees are not going to respond to increased cost-sharing 
by forsaking discretionary care. Other obstacles, like transportation 
costs and hourly wage jobs, already force those choices. Increased 
cost-sharing will deter timely, necessary health care. That is not 
right, that is not smart, that is not compassionate. Delays increase 
the cost of treating illnesses.
  Policymakers have also proposed ``tailoring'' Medicaid coverage to 
fit the health care needs of different beneficiaries. That is not an 
efficient way of cutting costs; it is an efficient way of cutting care. 
It is the wrong decision to make, to make this $10 billion Medicaid 
cut.

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