[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14399]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          EXPAND MEDICAID NOW

  (Ms. PINGREE of Maine asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Mr. Speaker, at a time when we are finally 
increasing access to health coverage for millions of Americans, those 
who need it the most are left without.
  Nearly every day, I hear from constituents in my State of Maine who 
are suffering because they are caught in a political battle over the 
expansion of Medicaid. These people are our friends and neighbors, and 
many of them have chronic conditions, injuries, or mental illnesses 
that prevent them from working. But because they live in States that 
have chosen not to expand the program, they have been left without any 
affordable options.
  Instead, people are putting off getting health care until their needs 
are critical. Hospitals and health centers end up picking up the tab, 
and our economy continues to be strained.
  In Maine, almost 70,000 people are struggling without health care 
because Medicaid hasn't been expanded. I call on Governors across the 
country, including my own, to think about these people rather than 
politics when they make decisions about health care in their States and 
expand Medicaid now.

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