Nicole Malliotakis Reveals What She Will Not Support In Reconciliation Bill

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Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss the reconciliation bill.

Transcript

00:00I now want to pivot to the budget, and Congress continues to negotiate President Trump's budget

00:04plan. There have been concerns from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that there will need

00:09cuts from Medicaid in order to pay for his agenda. Where are you in these conversations?

00:15What does it look like on potential Medicaid cuts? Well, I think the bill is coming together

00:19rather well. The Ways and Means Committee is wrapping up its work, and I think that we're

00:25coming up with some really great provisions that will cut taxes for our senior citizens,

00:30for working Americans, for our middle-class families, and I think people will be pleased

00:36to see that we're allowing these hard-working middle-class taxpayers to keep more of their

00:41money. It is so incredibly important when we talk about reducing taxes that our seniors pay on Social

00:46Security, or reducing taxes on our tipped employees, or increasing the SALT deduction for people that I

00:53represent, middle-class families in Staten Island and Brooklyn. These are all incredibly important

00:57provisions that will help them. Now, on the Medicaid space, we've also been very successful

01:02in pushing back on any substantive cuts, any cuts that would have an effect on the benefits that

01:11our seniors, our disabled, children with disabilities rely on, our vulnerable citizens. So we're looking

01:18to make some modest changes that will improve the program by getting rid of the fraudsters,

01:24getting rid of the illegal immigrants, and also ensuring that, you know, able-bodied young Americans

01:31are, are working. And so that's what we are, our goal is, and I think we're going to be able to get

01:36there. What we've made clear is we will not support anything that lowers the reimbursement rates that

01:43our states receive right now from the federal government on, which, on the traditional Medicare,

01:48which is 50% for New York State. And we're, you know, we're discussing other ideas and other options

01:55here. And I think we're going to get to a good place where, you know, we will be able to protect

02:00those beneficiaries that have relied, and who the program, by the way, was intended for, our seniors,

02:07our disabled, and people, children with disabilities, and our most vulnerable citizens,

02:11but also make the reforms necessary to root out the waste, the fraud and abuse, which has become

02:16rampant, particularly in states like New York. Even our governor, our attorney general, our state

02:22controller have highlighted the abuse. There have been numerous arrests of fraudsters. And when we

02:28root that out, there's more money in the program for those people who truly need it. And that's what we

02:34want to do. Make sure we preserve it for those individuals. The number out right now is that the Energy

02:39and Commerce Committee, which we know controls the policy surrounding Medicaid, needs to find

02:44$880 billion to cut. Is there $880 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse happening with Medicaid?

02:53I've talked to some of your Democratic colleagues, and they say no. So where is the math going to shape

02:57up there? Yeah, well, within the Medicaid space, it's about $500 billion in waste and fraud over,

03:03really fraud, over the next 10 years, which is, so it's $500 of the $880. But then you've got to

03:10remember, there's many other provisions. So it's not just going to come from the Medicaid space. There's

03:15going to be energy components to this. There's going to be broadband spectrum. There's going to be

03:20other pieces to this that can make up the rest. Now, obviously, the goal should be to get as close

03:26to $880 billion as possible. But if we fall short, you know, the rules are really, even though those

03:33are our instructions in the House, the rules that really apply to the reconciliation process are the

03:38ones in the Senate. And their target was much, much lower than the House. So I think we'll find some,

03:43figure something out in the middle between what the House and the Senate is instructing. And we can

03:49achieve this and do some good work and still preserve this important program. And the President's

03:54made clear, he is not going to cut benefits for individuals on Medicaid, Medicare, or Social

04:00Security. We're not even discussing Medicare and Social Security in this process. So really, with

04:06Medicaid, it's very targeted. It's very limited. And again, it's work requirements, making sure legal

04:12immigrants no longer benefit from these Medicaid dollars. And some of the other things, maybe the

04:18provider tax that the states are putting a cap on the provider tax that the states are putting on

04:25medical facilities to get more state federal funds. There's little things there that can make up a lot

04:32of the savings without touching the actual benefits.

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