Thune: Republicans’ Bill Protects, Preserves, and Strengthens Medicaid
“[W]e’re going to move full-speed ahead - protecting and preserving Medicaid for the Americans this program was intended to serve.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):
“Well, Mr. President, Democrats continue to melt down over the reconciliation bill that Republicans are getting ready to consider.
“And their statements continue to be heavy on the hysteria, and short on the facts.
“And nowhere is this more true than on the subject of the bill’s Medicaid provisions.
“To hear Democrats talk, you’d think Republicans were getting ready to rip Medicaid from the hands of needy children and pregnant women.
“And nothing, Mr. President, nothing could be further from the truth.
“And today I would like to take a few minutes to set the record straight – and highlight the facts on Republicans’ efforts to root out waste, fraud, and abuse from Medicaid and ensure that the focus of this program is on the people that it was designed to help.
“Mr. President, like other federal entitlement programs, Medicaid is not on the soundest footing.
“Between Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid to able-bodied adults at or above 138 percent of the federal poverty line and the Biden administration’s rules and waivers, Democrats have been growing Medicaid beyond its original scope for quite a while now.
“And federal Medicaid spending has soared.
“Between 2019 and 2023, Medicaid spending grew at more than 50 percent.
“And that kind of unsustainable growth, Mr. President, has consequences.
“Not just for taxpayers, who are on the hook for huge new amounts of money, but for the people most in need, who have to compete with a lot of new individuals for available resources.
“Mr. President, Republicans are committed to preserving and strengthening Medicaid for the people Medicaid was intended to serve – like vulnerable children, pregnant moms, and elderly Americans.
“And to that end, we are making some commonsense reforms to Medicaid to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse and protect the program for the people who need it the most.
“And that starts with removing people who should not be on the rolls.
“That means illegal immigrants and other noncitizens.
“Able-bodied adults who can work, but refuse to work.
“And individuals who don’t qualify for the program.
“We’re going to rein in federal spending to states that choose to direct scarce state dollars to illegal immigrants.
“We will be instituting basic, commonsense work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults, who should not be relying on taxpayers for their health care unless they are doing their best to find and maintain a job or contribute to their communities.
“And we will be overturning Biden-era regulations that made it difficult to remove individuals who don’t qualify for the program.
“Are Democrats seriously going to tell us they have a problem with that?
“Removing these individuals is just basic good governance.
“It’s fulfilling our barest obligation to ensure that Medicaid is working well for its intended recipients.
“Mr. President, I would note that while Democrat senators may be melting down over these basic good-governance requirements, some of their states are actually taking similar measures.
“No less a Democrat state than California is looking to freeze the enrollment of illegal immigrants in its Medicaid program and charge premiums for illegal immigrants already enrolled.
“Why?
“Because the state can no longer afford to cover these individuals and maintain its other obligations.
“And yet Democrat senators here in Washington are melting down because Republicans are daring to focus limited Medicaid dollars on American citizens and those most in need.
“Mr. President, in addition to ensuring that the individuals on Medicaid rolls are the ones who should be there, Republicans are making several other commonsense reforms.
“Notably, Mr. President, we are taking aim at rampant abuse of the provider tax loophole.
“Use of this loophole, which sees states inflate Medicaid service prices in order to garner a larger reimbursement from the federal government, was already a problem even before the Biden administration.
“In fact, President Obama released multiple budgets featuring measures to rein in abuse of the provider tax.
“But thanks to waivers the Biden administration issued to California and other blue states last year allowing them to further exploit this loophole, taxpayers are now on the hook for tens of billions of dollars in new spending.
“Neither the Medicaid program nor taxpayers can afford that burden.
“And so we’re going to rein things in.
“Mr. President, our bill makes a handful of other modest reforms to restrain waste, fraud, and abuse, but those I just mentioned are the big ones.
“Commonsense reforms to protect and strengthen Medicaid for those who need it the most.
“And I would love to know which of these reforms my colleagues object to.
“We’ve heard a lot of bluster from Democrats about how this bill will cost enrollment and cost lives, but we’ve heard very little from them on the actual measures included in the bill.
“And so, Mr. President, I’d like to ask them –
“Do they believe the federal government should still be giving states an enhanced Medicaid match if they cover illegal immigrants?
“Do they think individuals who don’t qualify for Medicaid should remain on the rolls?
“Are they against work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults?
“Do they think there should be any limits on states’ exploiting the provider tax loophole?
“Exactly which of our commonsense reforms do Democrats disagree with?
“Mr. President, Democrats used to support rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid, and getting Americans back to work.
“So what’s changed?
“Mr. President, while I can’t guarantee the source of Democrats’ hysteria, I suspect one or more of the following things is going on here.
“One, Democrats are still smarting from their election loss last November, and are desperate to regain ground with voters.
“And I suspect that Democrats think that if they can successfully – even if inaccurately – paint Republicans as targeting vulnerable Americans, they might be able to claw back some electoral support.
“Two, I think Democrats tend to reflexively oppose anything supported by President Trump – no matter how sensible that policy might be.
“And three, I think that with Democrats’ increasing embrace of the far left, there are Democrats out there who really do believe that government programs can continually expand without consequences – and that there is no limit to the amount of taxpayer dollars available for them to play with.
“Still, Mr. President, it’s incredible that we can’t agree on these commonsense reforms.
“But we’re going to move full-speed ahead – protecting and preserving Medicaid for the Americans this program was intended to serve.
“I want to thank Chairman Crapo and members of the Finance Committee for their work on the Medicaid provisions of our bill.
“And Mr. President, I look forward to taking up these provisions in the very near future as part of our final legislation.”
Related Issues: Medicaid, Budget
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