[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10135]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         MEDICAID IS A LIFELINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Ruiz) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, how many of us here have had an aging parent, 
a grandparent, an aunt or uncle who could no longer stay in their home 
alone? Seniors with Alzheimer's, dementia, and other special needs, 
someone to watch over them at home so they don't get lost or injure 
themselves or leave the stove on and injure others? Seniors with 
Parkinson's who need help to walk, to move, to get out of their chair, 
seniors too frail to care for themselves, or need long-term 
rehabilitation after a fall and an injured hip or an injured femur?
  How many of us have worried about where they would live and how they 
would get the care that they need? And oftentimes, the real question 
is: How are they going to pay for that care?
  Most people work their entire lives, save for retirement, pay into 
the system, yet still find themselves struggling to afford the care 
that they need. Both parents in middle class families have to work to 
barely make ends meet; no money and nobody home to care for their 
parents or grandparents.
  I understand the tough decision. You want to keep your loved one 
close, you want to care for them yourself, but you have to work and 
make ends meet to barely keep going. That is why most of the 1.4 
million people across the country living in nursing homes rely on 
Medicaid.
  For Americans in nursing homes, Medicaid is a lifeline. That is why 
TrumpCare's Medicaid cuts would devastate our Nation's seniors, leaving 
the 64 percent of nursing home residents who depend on Medicaid out in 
the cold. In fact, nursing homes account for 42 percent of Medicaid 
spending.
  Under TrumpCare, many seniors will lose their nursing home care, 
grandmothers with disabilities would find it harder to be cared for, 
harder to walk, harder to eat, harder to bathe. Nursing homes give 
patients a safe and caring place to recuperate when they are weakened 
by disabilities but don't need to be in a hospital, and they provide 
families peace of mind knowing that their loved one has a safe and 
caring place to get around-the-clock care.
  That is why we must stop TrumpCare. We cannot allow these deep cuts 
to Medicaid threaten the health of our seniors. We cannot rip these 
services away from the most vulnerable among us.
  We must put seniors first. We must give voice to vulnerable seniors. 
Let's put people above partisanship, and solutions above ideology.
  I oppose TrumpCare, and I will continue to fight to protect care for 
seniors and for all Americans.

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