Lisa Blunt Rochester Reads Stories About Constituents Who Will Be Affected By Medicaid Cuts In GOP Budget

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During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) spoke about specific constituents who will be affected by Medicaid cuts in the Republicans budget that passed the House early Thursday morning.

Transcript

00:00President, according to Secretary Kennedy, the Trump administration is committed to building

00:06the most compassionate Department of Health and Human Services in the history of the United

00:13States. So I went to the dictionary and looked up the term compassionate. It means a sympathetic

00:22consciousness of others' distress, together with a desire to alleviate it. Yet the proposed

00:31Republican budget would make historic billion-dollar cuts to the programs real Americans rely on.

00:39Instead of alleviating distress, this big bad bill would actually exacerbate it. And late,

00:48late last night, House Republicans added even more distress to their Medicaid cuts. Changes

00:55that would cut care and prevent access to care for millions of Americans. Changes that would

01:02cut funding that ensures safe, healthy births for newborns. Changes that will endanger our

01:09parents and grandparents who live in nursing homes. So I rise today and seek true compassion

01:17from my colleagues and ask, in the words of the famous song, where is the love? I rise today

01:25because I have been getting call after call, email after email, meeting with person after person,

01:34all worried sick about cuts to Medicaid. And I want to share some of their stories today.

01:41I want my colleagues to hear their names and understand the trade-offs they are making to

01:48support tax cuts for the wealthy while failing to shrink the national debt. Again, I'm going to say

01:56that again, while failing to shrink the national debt. Here are their stories. Emmanuel lives in Sussex

02:04County. When I met with him recently, he told me that if we pulled the thread of Medicaid, his whole life

02:13would unravel. Emmanuel calls himself a CP warrior, and he doesn't let cerebral palsy or his wheelchair

02:22stop him. For Emmanuel, Medicaid is more than prescriptions and doctor's appointments. It is about freedom and

02:32independence. Participating in Medicaid allowed him to get and keep a job. Access to Medicaid is how he went

02:42from being homeless, to being employed, to housed and financially secure. It's what enables his wife to be

02:51his primary caretaker, while also allowing them to live together as husband and wife. He struggles to plan for

03:00his future and that of his family, because his life depends on decisions that we make here in this body.

03:09Joy. Joy lives in Wilmington with her 34-year-old son, who she says is severely autistic.

03:17He receives amazing services from the Delaware Autism Program when he was in school and now attends their

03:26day program at Point of Hope. And you guessed it, Point of Hope is funded through Medicaid. Joy is literally

03:35terrified of what could happen if these cuts close that program. She doesn't know where her son will end up

03:45if they lose the support that Medicaid provides and she can no longer take care of him.

03:51And Nancy. Nancy lives in Dover with her 19-year-old son, Christopher, who was born prematurely.

03:59Christopher coded in the NICU and suffered from a brain injury. As a result, he is on a Medicaid waiver

04:09since he was eight months old. For the last 19 years, Nancy has advocated for her family as well as

04:17countless Delawareans. She built her life around caring for Christopher in their home

04:25versus an expensive long-term care facility. Medicaid covers the medical equipment Nancy rents to keep

04:33Christopher alive. Medicaid covers the skilled medical professionals that help Nancy care for her son

04:40and give her respite. Nancy told me that Christopher's life depends on this budget. In her words,

04:51the debate about funding cuts feels like the rug is being pulled from under her. Emmanuel, Joy, Nancy,

05:02Christopher. These are just many of the stories that I've been told since our Republican colleagues

05:10started their crusade against care. These are real people with real needs that Medicaid fills. Real

05:19people who we shine the light on and not ignore. And I want my colleagues to hear their names. I want them

05:27to remember the names of the names of the people in their own states who are imploring us to stand up and

05:33protect their access to care. The Emmanuel's, the Joy's, the Nancy's, the Christopher's.

05:42So whether you are a person of faith or just somebody who cares about your neighbor,

05:50now is the time to move from the golden rule of treating others as you would like to be treated to the

05:57platinum rule to treat others the way they want to be treated with real compassion and to start with

06:05protecting Medicaid. Thank you and I yield back.

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