Mitch Landrieu: “I would be happy to, and I thank the Senator for his leadership because the Grassley-Baucus bill does a couple of…”

“I would be happy to, and I thank the Senator for his leadership because the Grassley-Baucus bill does a couple of important things that are essential for the rebuilding and emergency needs of a population--not just the poor but the middle income and those who had private insurance the day before Katrina hit. The Baucus-Grassley bill allows the States to know that they are going to be reimbursed for the care they are providing to people who have virtually no insurance. For a State such as Louisiana, whose legislature may be meeting in the next few weeks, with a billion-dollar shortfall looming, I say to Senator Durbin, it is critical that the States of Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and Texas have some idea now about what the Federal Government is going to do regarding their insurance. We share it 70/30. The State cannot put up a 30-percent match. This bill waives that match so that our States can start making good budget decisions at a very difficult time, in addition to providing health care for those who are 200 percent or below of poverty--which in our State is only $18,000 or $20,000--to make sure that people have health insurance. But for middle-income families, working families, and even wealthy families that had health insurance, this bill allows them--even if their employers have gone under or taken bankruptcy or closed their doors and laid them off--to keep their health insurance for a few months, for 6 months or 12 months, depending on their category.…”