Chuck Grassley: “one specific area of this cobbled- together bill is spending. The bill provides significant increases in Medicaid…”

“one specific area of this cobbled- together bill is spending. The bill provides significant increases in Medicaid spending. There is $87 billion in Medicaid funds in this bill. There is a fundamental change to Medicaid that is in the House bill waiting to be put into the Senate bill when it comes to conference. There are numerous amendments to try to fix some of the problems with the Medicaid provisions of this bill, and I wish to discuss some of those at this point. I start with this $87 billion of FMAP money they have referred to. This is a huge payment to States. Now, some will say that $87 billion in Medicaid payments in this spending party bill is meant to help States pay for people already enrolled, but the facts tell a different story. In January, the Urban Institute produced a report for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and uninsured titled 'Rising Unemployment, Medicaid and the Uninsured.' The Urban Institute's research asserts that for every 1 percent increase in nationwide unemployment, Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs will see an increase of 1 million additional beneficiaries nationwide. I want to make clear that for the unemployed who qualify, we ought to provide enough money in Medicaid to take care of it, but we are raising questions about money beyond that.”