Political Quotes

“But the bottom line is that of all the unfunded mandates that probably are a source of a problem for the governors of the various States and some local officials, Medicaid probably tops the list. As the gentlewoman has stated so clearly, there is a great deal of dissatisfaction with this program as it comes from Washington. There is huge inflexibility in the Medicaid program as you deal with the indigent, long-term care. There are a lot of problems that need to be addressed, that we are asked to address more than possibly could be. This is a shared program with the States depending on the wealth of the States. It is a budget breaker. There is tremendous inflation built into Medicaid to begin with, probably more than any other Federal program that exists out there. In addition to that, you add the new coverage to it and you mandate it back to the States, and governors trying to put together their budgets have one after another gone broke dealing with this particular issue.”