Cantwell Condemns GOP’s Cruel Proposal to Kick Millions Off Medicaid: ‘You’re Going to Make All Those People Go to An Emergency Room?’

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, delivered a speech on the Senate floor condemning the House GOP’s ill-conceived proposal to cut health care by $715 billion to help pay for a tax break for the ultra-rich and corporations, forcingat least 13.7 million Americansoff their health insurance.
“House Republicans say that these cuts are about waste, fraud, and abuse -- but the real fraud is telling the American people that by implementing these requirements, that somehow these policies are going to save money. The truth is, it's just making it harder on Americans to stay on Medicaid,”Sen. Cantwell said.
“In 2018 Arkansas tried the same thing that the House of Representatives are now suggesting. They became the first state to establish a work requirement for certain Medicaid enrollees. It took just four months, and the new requirement got 18,000 people kicked off Medicaid. Where do you think those people go? You think they don't have any health care needs? You don't think they go to the hospital and cost us all a bunch load more money?” she continued.
“So I ask my colleagues to make sure that we are fighting these cuts to Medicaid. Our communities are demanding it. They are watching.”
Video of her speech is availableHEREand a full transcript isHERE.
On Sunday, the Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives released a draft proposal to cut $912 billion from the Energy and Commerce Committee budget -- the committee that oversees Medicaid, the federal program that insures many low-income adults and children, pregnant people, seniors, and people with disabilities. Their proposal would institute new co-pays and onerous work requirements, ultimately blocking access to health care for the people who need it most.
Medicaid, also known as Apple Health in Washington state, covers 1.9 million Washingtonians. On May 2, Sen. Cantwell released a snapshotreporthighlighting the impact that Medicaid cuts would have on Washington state'shighly-rankedlong-term care system for seniors and people with disabilities. In February, she additionally released a snapshotreportthat demonstrated how cuts would harm health care access in Washington state, and followed up with areportin March that dove into impacts on the Puget Sound region.
Highlights of those snapshot reports include:
Over the past two months, Sen. Cantwell also took a tour around the state to hear from folks who would be directly impacted by cuts to Medicare. Doctors, patients, and health care providers inSeattle,Spokane,the Tri-Cities, andWenatcheewarned that such cuts would devastate Washington state’s health care system and limit access to lifesaving care.
Last week, a coalition of Washington state hospital leaders and Republican elected officialssent a letter opposing any cuts to Medicaid. The group included the CEOs of Skyline Health and Klickitat Valley Hospital, as well as multiple Republican members of the Washington state legislature, leaders of Klickitat County, and councilmembers of White Salmon and Goldendale. The letter emphasized that hospitals in rural areas are especially reliant on Medicaid, and any funding reductions would result in loss of services or even hospital closures. The letter warned, “Any reduction in funding from any source will undoubtedly result in a reduction of services, reduction of access or worse - hospital closures,” and further that “Policy decisions that put a community's access to healthcare in jeopardy are a sure way to hasten the demise of rural Washington State.”
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