Joe Courtney Warns Of 'Ripple Effects’ On Employers And ‘Devastating Impact’ Of Possible Medicaid Cuts

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During a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) spoke of his disapproval of possible Medicaid cuts.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the witnesses for your thoughtful testimony.

00:05Again, I'm also somebody who can say that I spent 20 years as a small employer,

00:10and like the chairman and the ranking member, definitely acknowledge that there's realities there in terms of that end of the market

00:18that we should always be focused and working on.

00:22Last Congress, as Mr. Desaunier mentioned, we actually came together on a bipartisan basis

00:28to have the transparency and the pharmacy benefit managers,

00:33which, again, small business communities supported strongly

00:36because that black box of how prescription drugs are negotiated is unacceptable

00:42in terms of really trying to make sure that the customer, which is businesses who are buying these health plans,

00:47understand where their dollars are going.

00:52And large companies like Boeing, as part of their contracts with PBMs,

00:57required full transparency, and because of that, a lot of them didn't bid on their offering.

01:05But the ones that did, Boeing saved millions of dollars because of just the fact that they could be able to see what happened.

01:13Unfortunately, the bill was pulled during the lame duck session at the behest of the Trump transition team.

01:20And again, Speaker Johnson had signed off in terms of the legislation, and unfortunately it got withdrawn.

01:24We're going to start again because getting to the core costs of health care has got to be part of the plan here

01:32in terms of how you lower premiums.

01:34If you don't do that, then everything you're doing is just cost shifting.

01:38It's whack-a-mole, and that's just not going to work.

01:41And speaking of moles, Mr. Desaunier mentioned the $880 billion cut to Medicaid,

01:49which is not a mole, that's like a gorilla that is going to, again, have ripple effects to the employer community.

01:57Mr. Chairman, I have a list of the 50 major health care provider groups that have come out opposed to the $880 billion cut.

02:05And again, it deals with the high-end providers, the American Hospital Association, Catholic Hospital Association,

02:10Children's Health Association, physician groups, patient groups that have all come forward

02:16and recognize the devastating impact this is going to have for access to care.

02:22And I ask that this list be unanimous consent to be added to the record.

02:26Without objection.

02:28So, again, if that goes through, you know, we're looking, again,

02:31we're looking at, you know, a program that provides 40% of the live birth coverage in America for babies and mothers.

02:44Again, it's about 40%, 45% of children are covered.

02:48Some are actually working families because Medicaid provides for coverage.

02:53Again, Ms. Lilly, maybe you can talk about that, that, you know,

02:56that's part of the solution in terms of helping with employers to have options.

03:02I will say, just to start off, that I think having cancer is incredibly expensive.

03:07Anyone in our community who has had cancer can tell you that.

03:10And for a lot of kids, as you said, Medicaid is, one, either their source of coverage

03:15or it comes in as a secondary source of coverage when their parents realize exactly how expensive this is going to be.

03:22Children's hospitals across the United States, I'm sure they're on your list

03:25because they are one of the largest recipients of Medicaid funding.

03:28So when our kids end up in these children's hospitals that have the necessary specialized care,

03:34Medicaid is often the program that is picking up the tab there.

03:38I will say, you know, I also think a lot about caregivers.

03:42If you are, say, a mom or a dad who has had a kid diagnosed with cancer

03:47and that kid is in the hospital for months or weeks on end, you may not be able to maintain your job.

03:55You may not have access to paid leave.

03:57You may not be able to do that.

03:58And so you also need health insurance.

04:01If something additionally awful were to happen, you would also need that health insurance.

04:07And Medicaid also picks up those families.

04:10Medicaid is also incredibly important for people with disabilities.

04:14And many people deal with the long-term implications of having a cancer.

04:18So, for instance, I know you have personal experience with this, sir,

04:21but if you have been through that chemo, if you have been through that radiation,

04:25if you have been through, frankly, the treatments that we still need to develop better options for,

04:31those can have really long-term implications on your health.

04:35And you may need access to long-term services and supports,

04:38which are only available through the Medicaid program.

04:40And so, really, Medicaid kind of comes around all cancer patients and really helps all of that.

04:48I will add that I think in addition to caregivers and kids and people with disabilities,

04:57you also have a lot of older adults on Medicaid,

04:59and that's actually one of the biggest populations of people with blood cancer are older adults.

05:04Right. Thank you. I yield back.

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