‘That’s Rhetoric, Not Reality’: Jack Reed Rips Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For Medicaid Overhaul Rationale

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) clashed with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over Medicaid cuts.

Transcript

00:00comments very much. Now, let me turn to an issue. Medicaid. The nonpartisan

00:10Correctional Budget Office estimates that more than 10 million people will lose

00:14access to Medicaid because of the bill under consideration right now in the

00:18House. In fact, CBO didn't even get to score all the Medicaid provisions so it

00:23could be higher. But the consequence of that is millions of people losing

00:29Medicare will mean that many more people will go to the emergency rooms because

00:33they don't have a doctor. Many community health centers will close because that's

00:38the margin that keeps them open. Nursing homes will likely close. In fact, frankly,

00:44it will probably undermine significantly the health care systems in every state

00:48in the Union. So why are you making these cuts? First of all, we haven't made cuts.

00:54Only in Washington would those be called cuts. The reductions that are proposed are

01:02reductions in the rate of growth over the next five years. And those reductions are

01:10to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. And I'll explain to you, there's a million

01:15people now on Medicaid who are accepting Medicaid or collecting from Medicaid in

01:21two states. That's illegal. They're stealing from the Medicaid program. We've now been

01:28able to identify them, which no other administration was able to do. There are

01:33two million people who are collecting both Obamacare or one million people who are

01:37collecting Obamacare and Medicaid. That's illegal. It is also a theft. There are a

01:43million illegal aliens in the states that have allowed that, like California. And as soon as we

01:50made the announcement that we are not going to allow that funding anymore, Gavin Newsom

01:57followed by making his announcement that he's not going to fund it anymore. So his

02:00compassion ended where he had to start paying for it. The remaining, and there's

02:05only eight and a half million people affected by this, the remaining people who are

02:10affected are able-bodied male workers, males, who refuse to get a job, who refuse to even meet the

02:18minimal thresholds that President Trump has demanded, that they be looking for a job, that they be getting education.

02:24Excuse me, Mr. Secretary. That's rhetoric, not reality. You're going to have 10 million people

02:29without health care. They're going to the emergency rooms. It is going to undermine the

02:33health care system in every state of this country. And you'll be responsible along with

02:37the President. Thank you.

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