'Republicans Have Already Caved': Barragán Blasts House GOP Over Medicare Cuts In 'Big, Ugly Bill'

During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA) tore into the Republicans' "Big, Beautiful Bill."

Transcript

00:00Mr. Speaker, Senate Republicans are making Donald Trump's big, ugly bill even uglier,

00:13with steeper cuts to Medicaid that will leave more kids, parents, and seniors without health

00:19care. Also, they can reward their billionaire donors with even bigger tax breaks. This bill

00:25would deeply cut Medicaid and hurt our most vulnerable. Don't take my word for it. Republican

00:31Senator Tom Tillis shared this chart on the state-by-state impact of the Senate Republicans'

00:39newest cuts. Do you live in North Carolina? If you do, you stand to lose $38.9 billion and

00:49could kick up to 600,000 people off Medicaid. Many states, including Republican states,

00:58will lose tens of billions of dollars in Medicaid funding. How about Virginia? Virginia will

01:04lose $24.8 billion. Louisiana, the Speaker's home state, $20 billion. South Carolina, $20

01:15billion. States with small budgets would get hammered. Iowa loses $4.1 billion. And Senator

01:24Ernst from Iowa, what does she say about it? She's not concerned. She says, well, we're all

01:30going to die anyways. Kentucky loses about $12 billion. What does Senator Mitch McConnell

01:37have to say about that? He says, you'll get over it. What? Are you the American people

01:45going to just get over losing your health care so that a billionaire can buy a bigger yacht?

01:52Do you want to die young in the emergency room so that a Fortune 500 company can add a few

01:57more seats to their private jet? Here's what Senate Republicans are doing that caused Senator

02:03Tillis to make this chart. Right now, states use a variety of tools to help pay for their share

02:08of Medicaid, which is the health insurance program for low-income families, children, seniors,

02:14and people with disabilities. One of those most important tools is called a provider tax.

02:19That's when hospitals or health plans agree to pay a small tax to keep Medicaid running.

02:25In return, the federal government matches those dollars. It's a federal-state partnership

02:30that keeps hospitals open, staff paid, and patients covered. But the Senate Republican bill

02:36would limit how much states can use that tool. It puts new restrictions on states that expanded

02:41Medicaid to low-income people, saying they can't collect as much from hospitals or health insurance

02:46companies as they do now. It means the federal government would be telling states, you can't

02:52use the money you've depended on for years to keep Medicaid going. And that's going to cause

02:57a lot of damage. Hospitals would lose funding. States will face bigger budget gaps. And what happens

03:04then, you'll see cuts. Cuts to health care. Cuts to services. Cuts to the very people who need the

03:11help the most. This means tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars lost. That's not just numbers

03:18on a page. That's real people losing health insurance. That's real patients getting turned

03:24away. Real communities, especially rural and low-income communities, being left behind.

03:30Now, this morning, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that these provider tax restrictions

03:35cannot be included as drafted. But this fight is still very real. We have seen Republicans rework

03:43the text of these radical cuts to get the parliamentarian's approval. And at least one House Republican

03:51just today suggested they just ignore what this parliamentarian has said. I have no doubt

03:59that the plan Republicans come up with will slash Medicaid and devastate hospitals to fund their tax

04:06breaks. Now, a few Republicans here in the House have said, these new cuts, they go too far. But are

04:14they really willing to stand up for their constituents and vote no if the Senate sends these cuts? I'm not

04:22going to hold my breath because Republicans have already caved last month and voted to kick millions

04:29of people off Medicaid. House Democrats and Senate Democrats are united to stop this big ugly bill. I urge Republicans

04:36in Congress to join us to do the right thing and oppose this bill. Stand up for hospitals. Stand up for

04:44stand up for patients. Stand up for the millions of Americans who count on Medicaid every day. I yield back.