Video: https://www.facebook.com/senatortomudall/videos/10155273029767870/
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall gave his fifth speech on the Senate floor against the Republicans' TrumpCare bill to gut Medicaid, take away health care from nearly 300,000 New Mexicans and 22 million Americans, and drastically cut funding for already struggling rural hospitals. Udall again highlighted the stories of New Mexicans and their families who have benefitted from the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) protections for seniors and people with pre-existing conditions and chronic diseases, and the New Mexicans who have received health care thanks to the ACA's expansion of Medicaid. All stand to lose some or all of their health coverage if the Republican bill becomes law.
Udall has received over 10,000 calls, emails and letters about TrumpCare, and over 96 percent of the New Mexicans who have contacted him have pleaded with him to do everything he can to fight the TrumpCare bill. In his speech, Udall called the bill "cruel" saying, "The president and congressional Republicans want to take us back to the days when health care was a privilege for those who could afford it. The American people do not support the Republicans’ cruel plans…. They reject gutting Medicaid and the Medicaid expansion. They reject making seniors pay more for health care. They reject making health care inaccessible for those with fewer resources. The Republicans need to go back to the drawing board – and begin to work with Democrats. I say to my colleagues across the aisle: Do not take health care -- and the opportunity to lead a productive and happy life -- away from millions of Americans. Together, we can make affordable health care a reality for all."
The full text of Udall’s remarks is available below.
Mr. President. I rise to defend the essential health care that 300,000 New Mexicans and millions of Americans depend on.
Leader McConnell calls his TrumpCare bill the “Better Care Reconciliation Act.” But actually the bill will mean worse care for seniors, children, the disabled, rural communities, and working families, all trying to make ends meet. And, it will mean no care for 22 million people, according to the latest CBO report.
The bill cancels health insurance and slashes Medicaid funding – all so Republicans can give big tax breaks to the richest Americans.
President Trump called the original House bill “mean.” The Senate Republicans’ health care bill isn’t just “mean.” It’s cruel.
It’s cruel to take away nursing home care that seniors depend on. Cruel to take away necessary medical services from disabled children. Make no mistake: this bill will cost lives.
This version of TrumpCare is a massive redistribution of wealth – from working families, seniors, and the disabled – to the wealthy. But the Republicans’ bill is not just Robin Hood in reverse. TrumpCare doesn’t just take away money from the poor to give to the rich. It takes away people’s health care. And robs families of their health -- and their ability to work, care for their families, contribute to society. And lead happy, and heathy lives.
Mr. President, this bill was drafted in secret. Only a handful of Republicans -- and their lobbyist friends – got to see the bill. And it’s no wonder — the American people hate what TrumpCare would do to them and their families. TrumpCare is cruel.
It is good that Leader McConnell decided not to call a vote this week on this terrible bill. But, I am by no means satisfied.
We need to hear from Republican leadership that they are ready to work with Democrats to improve the Affordable Care Act — not gut it — and to truly improve our health care system.
This is what the American people are demanding. And this is what we in Congress should be working toward, on a bipartisan basis.
We created Medicaid in 1965 to serve a critical need. Since then, Medicaid has become one of the most successful programs for making sure low-income people get the health care they need. People get treatment for illnesses that once were a death sentence. The American people support a government that doesn’t leave its most vulnerable to suffer and die.
But the current Senate bill cuts Medicaid by more than $770 billion dollars. And let’s be clear, these cuts have nothing to do with better health care. They are a ruthless tactic to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.
On the campaign trail, the president vowed not to cut Medicaid — said it a number of times — but last week, he tweeted he is “very supportive” of the bill, and yesterday he met with the Republican caucus and told them to pass the bill. By supporting the bill, he breaks the promise he made during the campaign.
Medicaid expansion has allowed millions of Americans and over 265,000 people in my state to see a doctor.
Many of these folks work, but don’t have health insurance through their jobs or can’t afford private health insurance. Medicaid expansion is literally a lifeline.
But TrumpCare wipes this out. I can't believe that our Republican friends are doing this to New Mexico children and families.
Take 1 ½-year-old Rafe. Rafe is here with his mom, Jessica, and his Dad, Sam, a veteran. They’re from Albuquerque, NM.
Rafe was born with cortical visual impairment — a kind of legal blindness — and significant developmental delays. He faced monumental medical challenges.
But Jessica and Sam have been able to access the intensive medical care, early intervention services, medical equipment, and therapies he needs -- through a combination of their military insurance and Medicaid.
Now, Rafe’s parents are scared he will lose his Medicaid services. Their military insurance alone doesn’t cover all the services and equipment Rafe needs. They need Medicaid. Without it, Rafe’s chances for a better life are threatened.
They worry about “dealing with insurance, finding child care, tracking down specialty doctors, keeping up with therapy appointments and doctor's appointment.”
They worry whether Rafe will be able to walk, feed himself, graduate from high school, and get a job. Now they must worry whether he will get the medical care he needs to give him the opportunity to do all those things.
Or let’s talk about Carmen, and her three children. Carmen is a single parent. She serves Native American students as a teacher, coach, dorm parent, and higher education administrator.
The small non-profit organization Carmen works for doesn’t offer health insurance. For the past four years, Medicaid has helped pay for health care for her two sons.
Her kids are healthy, but two have nut allergies, and need Epi-Pens at school and at home. According to Carmen, “When I renewed their Epi-Pen prescription for school this past fall, I was astounded that the price sky-rocketed to $741 to fill one prescription!”
And now Carmen is worried -- she doesn’t know whether her kids will lose Medicaid. Or how she will pay for prescriptions. She asked me, “Please continue to fight for the Affordable Care Act because you are fighting for me and my family's well-being.”
It is cruel to threaten Rafe’s chances for a healthier life. Cruel that Carmen might not be able to pay for EpiPens for her kids.
TrumpCare threatens these two families -- and millions more.
Mr. President, TrumpCare will hurt seniors, so it’s not surprising that AARP strongly opposes it. AARP opposes the TrumpCare “age tax” that allows insurance companies to charge seniors up to 5 times more for their premiums.
The age tax -- combined with reducing tax credits for premiums -- will price seniors out of health insurance needed to supplement their Medicare. AARP is calling on every Senator to vote “no” on the Senate Republicans’ bill.
Medicaid pays for an astounding 62 percent of all nursing home care. By cutting Medicaid, the Republicans threaten our mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers in nursing homes.
States can’t bear the burden of these costs Republicans want to shift to them. I know the State of New Mexico can’t handle this. This cost-shift sets states up to cut reimbursement rates and reduce eligibility for services at nursing homes.
Medicaid pays 64 percent of the nursing home care in my state. New Mexico’s 74 nursing homes all will be impacted by these cuts.
Many of the folks in nursing homes are middle-class Americans who worked all their lives, paid taxes, and saved for retirement. They did everything “right.” But because skilled nursing care is so expensive, they have outlived their life savings. And now, Medicaid pays the cost of care at the end of their lives -- allowing them to live with dignity.
Mr. President, Senate Republicans may say that one improvement in their bill over the House bill is it protects people with pre-existing conditions.
But the American people shouldn’t be fooled. People with pre-existing conditions are not protected under the Senate bill the way they are now protected under the ACA. The Senate Republican bill still allows states to waive the Essential Health Benefits that all insurance companies must now provide under the ACA. These benefits include prescriptions, hospital stays, rehabilitative services, and laboratory services. If states waive these benefits, people with serious illnesses would have to pay out of pocket for these services -- or buy additional insurance.
Or, if these services are covered, but are not Essential Health Benefits, insurance companies can put annual or lifetime limits on the services. And people with serious illnesses could end up with no coverage or be priced-out of services.
All this sends us back to the time when people faced not getting care or going bankrupt if they got sick. We passed the ACA because the American people agreed no one should go broke to pay for life-saving care. And that insurance companies shouldn’t be able to place limits on the care someone could get in their lifetime. Why do Republicans want to take us back?
Finally, the steep cuts to Medicaid would devastate hospitals, especially rural hospitals.
Make no mistake. Rural hospitals are already struggling. Medicaid cuts will force some to close their doors if TrumpCare becomes law. In New Mexico, our rural hospitals are often an economic anchor for the community. Hospital administrators in my state are very worried.
Medicaid has helped the Guadalupe County Hospital cut its uninsured payer rate from 14 percent to 4 percent from 2014 to 2016, and its uncompensated care decreased 23 percent in that same period. The hospital’s administrator -- Christina Campos – fears what might happen if TrumpCare becomes law. She is urging me to protect access to care in rural areas.
I will fight hard to keep residents in our rural areas insured, and to keep rural hospitals in New Mexico – and across the nation -- open.
The president and congressional Republicans want to take us back to the days when health care was a privilege for those who could afford it. The American people do not support the Republicans’ cruel plans. Congress should listen to the pleas of our constituents.
The American people reject the framework of TrumpCare. They reject gutting Medicaid and the Medicaid expansion. They reject making seniors pay more for health care. They reject making health care inaccessible for those with fewer resources.
The Republicans need to go back to the drawing board – and begin to work with Democrats.
I say to my colleagues across the aisle: Do not take health care -- and the opportunity to lead a productive and happy life -- away from millions of Americans. Together, we can make affordable health care a reality for all.
