00:01Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today as the representative of the nearly one in four Delawareans who rely on Medicaid. Families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities whose lives now hang in the balance.
00:17Republicans in Congress have proposed not only the largest cut in Medicaid in American history, but the single largest evisceration of health care in American history, period.
00:28According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, this slash-and-burn proposal would strip health insurance from nearly 14 million people.
00:38That's not belt-tightening. It's life-threatening.
00:41Since the majority in Congress began advancing this plan, I've heard from hundreds of Delawareans who can't sleep, gripped by the fear of losing the care that keeps them or their kids alive.
00:54Caroline, a young woman from Newark, has a rare condition that requires extensive medical intervention.
01:01Without Medicaid, she told me that she could die.
01:05Caroline, tragically, is not alone.
01:07If these cuts advance, people will die.
01:13I've heard from doctors, nurses, hospital leaders, and community health clinics across our state.
01:19They all agree.
01:20Republican cuts to Medicaid will do irreparable harm, eliminating a lifeline for their patients and putting further strain on our hospital systems that are already facing a workforce crisis.
01:32But let's talk about what's actually in the Republican proposal.
01:35The majority party wants to impose needless and excessive paperwork requirements that serve no purpose but to push people off the rolls.
01:44They are importing the worst parts of the private health insurance industry, needless bureaucratic barriers and excessive paperwork, into a life-saving program to make it harder to qualify for care.
01:55All to pad the pockets of the ultra-wealthy.
01:59And if that weren't enough, the bill also includes what can only be described as a backdoor abortion ban, prohibiting Medicaid funding from going to family planning clinics that provide abortion services, even if that funding isn't being used for abortion care.
02:14This means shuttering access to trusted providers and family planning clinics, especially in rural areas where options are already scarce.
02:23They're doing all of this while forcing working families to pay more out of pocket.
02:29When you make working people pay more for basic health care, that is a tax.
02:36Republicans in Congress want to tax the health care of working people, all to just partially pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest.
02:43This administration and Republicans promised Americans three things last year.
02:49Lower costs, cutting red tape, and bringing down the deficit.
02:54But let's review what their budget will actually do.
02:57It raises costs for working families across the country through new out-of-pocket expenses, higher premiums, and loss in coverage.
03:04It creates new bureaucratic red tape for patients, providers, and state governments.
03:08Barriers designed to trip people up and push them out.
03:11And it adds $3.7 trillion to the deficit, not to expand care or invest in working people, but to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
03:21I didn't come to Congress to rubber stamp cruelty.
03:25I came to fight for the people I represent.
03:28The aging parents in Sussex County, the caregivers in Kent, kids in Wilmington.
03:33And let me end with the words of another Delawarean, a single mom.
03:37Without Medicaid, neither of us would have health insurance.
03:41My employer doesn't offer health coverage, and I can't afford the $500 a month private plan with high deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses.
03:48If we lose Medicaid, we lose everything.
03:51She added this.
03:53P.S.
03:54I'm a health care worker with a bachelor's degree.
03:56This isn't about being too lazy to work.
03:59We owe her and millions of others better than this.
04:02I urge my colleagues to reject this cruel and catastrophic proposal.
