On the recordJuly 24, 2012
Precisely. So we need to be able to provide for the people who are most in need. That is a reasonable role for government in a great Nation. But what we don't want to do, what we want to avoid is creating economic hardship that will push more Americans into this category. We see that phenomenon happening across our economy as we speak, and it's one of the reasons why so many States have said, we cannot possibly afford to expand our Medicaid programs. Indeed, Dr. Cassidy, you, being the good teacher that you are, provided me with an example from the State of Connecticut, with their recent experience in opening up their Medicaid program and opening up the enrollment because they had such a dramatic increase--I think it was something like 70 percent increase in the number of enrollees--that the State actually couldn't handle that increase in any way readily. So their services to all of their Medicaid recipients, unfortunately, of necessity, were compromised.
